For street food newbies, the alternatives in Asia may be overwhelming. Meet Luke Nguyen, a Vietnamese-Australian chef who was born in a Thai refugee camp after his parents fled their homeland, Vietnam. His family settled in Australia and opened a Vietnamese restaurant, and it was there that Nguyen first became excited about exploring his roots. He is a TV personality and host of Red Lantern Restaurant in Australia. But now he’s taking his in-depth knowledge of Asian street food culture to the page.
In his book Luke Nguyen’s Street Food in Asia: Saigon, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, JakartaYou’ll find all of the snacks you would like here, and below are his favorites.
Saigon: Silkworm Noodles with Shredded Pork and Coconut Milk (Banh Tam Bi)
It’s a well-liked dish in Saigon and southern Vietnam, though it’s challenging to search out outside the country. The thick noodles — resembling silkworms, hence the name — are created from a mixture of rice flour and tapioca flour.
Covered in a thick coconut milk sauce, topped with a generous amount of Nuoc Cham sauce and served with shredded pork and pork skin, cooked bean sprouts, julienned cucumbers, fresh herbs, pickled vegetables and spring onion oil. Both sweet and savoury, somewhere between a primary course and dessert, I really like having fun with them as a day pick-me-up!
Saigon: Rice Paper Rolls with Grilled Beef, Lemongrass and Betel Leaves (Bo Cuan La Lot Banh Trang)
There’s a man on Co Giang Street in District 1 who cooks this dish using only a basic grill. The betel leaves are interesting; while Thais like them raw, Vietnamese people like to cook them either pan-fried or stuffed and grilled, as they do here. The stuffing is a combination of ground beef, lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce and cilantro; it’s rigorously rolled into the leaves, creating small, tight rolls, that are then grilled.
Jakarta: Chicken Satay Skewers (Sate Ayam)
Street vendors grab about 20 beautifully strung satay sticks at a time, dip them in a dark, sticky marinade, then slam them straight onto the grill. The coals hiss, the flames ignite, the smoke billows, and the meat quickly cooks to juicy, charred perfection.
The drumsticks are served with sticky rice cakes, kecap manis, crispy fried shallots and an exquisite peanut sauce. Customers eat right outside, amid the smoke and fumes, sitting on picket benches and watching the world go by. I purchase a portion of the fragile skewers; they’re not huge. I get a combination of chicken and lamb, their specialty.
Jakarta: Chicken Penyet with Green Chile Sambal
A preferred dish from East Java, ayam penyet (‘ayam’ means ‘chicken’) is made with chunks of Maryland chicken which are marinated in tons of spices and deep-fried until they’re extra crispy. While this is occurring, the chef is making sambal. This involves deep-frying a handful of green chilies until soft, then mashing them in a cobek with a pinch of salt to create a vibrant green paste.
The cooked chicken can also be placed on a stone and beaten hard with a mallet, which tears the meat apart and makes it easier to eat. Then, green sambal is smeared on top, and the chicken is served in a paper-lined basket with coconut rice, fried tempeh, mint, and raw cabbage. And, after all, more chili.
Kuala Lampur: Rice with Banana Leaf (Nasi Kandar)
They are all pre-cooked and you select those you wish – Usha is known for her goat tripe curry, dry lamb curry, chicken korma and salted fish curry. She also does fried chicken and fried fish and has some unusual things on the menu like finely chopped bitter melon which is breaded after which deep fried until really crispy. And her dried salted chillies that are great. Everything is fragrant with spices and curry leaves and also you eat it with the fingers of your right hand. Done well, it’s an excellent elegant solution to eat.
Kuala Lampur: Flying Wantan Mee with Roasted Pork (Wantan Mee Babi Salai)
Wantan mee is a classic street food in Kuala Lumpur. It’s principally thin egg noodles topped with an almost black sauce created from soy sauce, sesame oil and lard. Slices of sticky, sweet, homemade char siu (Cantonese barbecued pork) are served with blanched choy sum (Chinese flowering cabbage). A small bowl of wantan in a transparent, pork-flavored soup is something to eat with the noodles. It’s considered a fast, comforting dish in Kuala Lumpur and is easy but delicious.
Bangkok: Boat Noodles (Kuai Teaw Moo Nam Tok)
Traditionally, they’re characterised by a particular brown broth that’s coloured with the usage of pig or cow blood, which also gives the broth its special consistency. You can still find the dish made this manner, but not all cooks use blood. Other ingredients and flavors which are often strong include cinnamon, dark soy, fermented tofu, pork or beef, bean sprouts, water spinach (morning), fried garlic, soft-boiled eggs, and crispy pork rinds.
Bangkok: Wafer-thin Egg Floss and Dried Shrimp (Khanom Bueang)
The dough is created from rice flour, pea flour, a bit of palm sugar, eggs, water and a pinch of salt. It is spread on a hot plate, creating small, super-thin discs; they give the impression of being like tiny tacos.
Once the discs are brown and super crispy, they’re topped with a combination of egg white and coconut sugar that has been beaten until stiff and meringue-like, or a combination of dried shrimp, grated coconut and thin strands of egg yolk called “foi thong” or “golden strands”, with chopped cilantro (coriander) ending the entire thing. Buying a mixture of the 2, as is often the case, provides a combination of sweet and savory flavors which will sound odd, but I promise you that khanom bueang tastes amazing.
Excerpt with permission Luke Nguyen’s Street Food in Asia: Saigon, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakartapublished by Hardie Grant Books in March 2017, suggested retail price $45.00 hardcover.
Source: Saveur.com
