One of the best aspects of traveling to foreign countries is tasting all the different foods. There is a massive range of Asian cuisine that is massively different from what we usually eat. Asian food is delicious as it always has lots of flavor in it from various seasoning and different spices. Soy sauce, rice, chilies, and tofu are a staple in Asian cooking. Asia is a massive continent consisting of 48 countries and each one has a different cuisine so you’re spoiled for choice. Some traditional and popular Asian meals include chow mein, dumplings, samosas, and baklava. If you’re already a fan of any of these Asian dishes you’ll be blown away by authentic Asian cooking. With so many countries to choose from, we’ve narrowed it down to the 4 best Asian countries for exciting food.

China

Chinese restaurants are extremely popular worldwide with many countries having their own China towns to try and replicate some of the most delicious dishes. Chinese cuisine is very heavily meat-based with almost every meal containing some form of meat. They cook using most animals including pork, chicken, beef, duck, and pigeons. Pork is the most commonly used and appears in most Chinese dishes. There are 4 main cooking styles in China; Lu Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine, Guangdong Cuisine, and Jiangsu Cuisine. As China is such a large country, different areas have access to vastly different resources which led to 4 different cooking styles. The most popular meals here are vermicelli, sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and hot and sour soup.

Vietnam

Vietnamese cuisine isn’t as popular worldwide as Chinese food but it’s just as exciting and delicious. We think once you’ve had a taste, you’ll want to learn to cook vietnamese cuisine yourself. Vietnamese food is based on five fundamental tastes; sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty. Vietnamese food reflects the Buddhist belief that there are 5 natural elements, each element corresponds to a taste. As there is harmony in nature, the belief is that in every dish there should also be harmony between the flavors. It focuses on using very fresh ingredients and lots of vegetables, it is one of the healthiest cuisines in the world. The national dish of Vietnam is Pho.

Thailand

Thai cuisine produces a lot of spicy foods. Thai cuisine was heavily influenced by neighboring countries such as India, it is believed that it was through India’s influence that Thai cuisine became spicy. It was also influenced by Portugal and America in the 16^th century with the introduction of the chili pepper which became one of the most important ingredients in Thai cuisine, alongside rice. It is broken down loosely into four categories; boiled dishes, spicy salad, pounded food, and curries. Thai food is prepared delicately and has very strong flavors making it popular outside of Thailand. The most popular meals from Thailand include pad Thai, Thai green curry, and som tam.

Japan

Japanese cuisine is heavily based around fish, this is because it’s an island and in the past, they struggled to obtain large quantities of spice or meat. The Japanese lifestyle has always been healthy which is reflected in its cuisine as they don’t cook with oil or fats. Another notable thing about Japan is that its main utensil used for eating is chopsticks. In Japan, dishes are based around the seasons, they take advantage of what food is available in each of the four seasons and create dishes based around this. The most popular dish in Japan is sushi.