The Best Southeast Asian Flavors in Shows
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The Best Southeast Asian Flavors on Netflix
These Southeast Asian flavors have a starring role on Netflix series: Street Food Asia, Somebody Feed Phil, Ugly Delicious, and Midnight Asia.
Southeast Asian Soups
Get a kick out of the flavors in Southeast Asia’s lush soups and stews.
- The Netflix documentary Street Food Asia explores the street food culture of nine Asian cities, including Southeast Asia’s Bangkok, Delhi, Yogyakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and Cebu.
- This rich atlas of outdoor eats showcases the intense flavors served up in each city’s street food scene.
- Throughout the region, each culture serves up its own distinctive specialties, with soups and stew, usually featured in a starring role. From goat head stew to tom yum to pho, the flavors are varied and intense.
- The proximity of so many of these metropolitan areas to an international port or major fishing hub means that many Southeast Asian countries incorporate a healthy portion of seafood in their top offerings.
- In Episode One of Street Food Asia, the documentary explores Bangkok and its signature Tom Yum hot and spicy soup, which is known the world over. Traditionally made with shrimp and lemongrass, this regional treat is served on a scale of one to HOT.
The World’s Smelliest Fruit
The stronger the smell, the sweeter the taste.
- The Thai people have a saying about Durian fruit, “it tastes like heaven but smells like heck!” For first-time travelers, the smell can be offputting at best.
- In fact, the intense scent has caused the durian fruit to be banned in some public spaces. Get past the pungent exterior, however, and a sweetly exotic experience awaits.
- In the series Somebody Feed Phil, a food and travel documentary that stars Phil Rosenthal, who created the Everybody Loves Raymond series, somebody fed Phil a fresh durian. Turns out the intrepid culinarian enjoyed his durian experience.
- The sweet insides can be used in countless ways, from blending them in smoothies to using them as a natural sweetener to all manner of desserts.
- Yami has an extensive selection of freeze-dried durian products, allowing shoppers to bypass the exterior and go right to the sweet interior. Or skip all the prep time and try the delicious pre-made Durian cakes below. Trust us, you won’t want to miss this experience.
Hurry for Curry
Try it golden, green or red; with coconut milk, meat or with veggies.
- In Season 2 of the Netflix series Ugly Delicious, celebrity chef David Chang teams up with friends Aziz Ansari, Padma Lakshmi and Madhur Jeffrey as they explore the true story behind curry.
- The episode begins with Chang admitting he doesn’t know much about curry and ending with him not much the wiser.
- We understand the confusion. A frequent question asked by foodies is “how many types of curry are there?” But that is more ore less the same as asking “how many sauces are there?”
- India, ostensibly the birthplace of curry, is home to 22 official languages, and nearly 400 distinct spoken languages and mother tongues, so it's hardly surprising that with so many different types of people that the country is home to nearly an infinite number of curry varieties.
- India’s curries, of course, don’t factor in the curries of other Asians such as Thailand, Japan and Malaysia. There are so many varieties of curry around the world, that it is a little hard to find a globally universal definition.
- Frequently, though, curry starts with some ground turmeric. In India, some garam masala is also ground in. Our suggestion? Try some of the flavors at Yami and see which one is your favorite.
Topping Off a Bowl of Rice Porridge
Rice gets a full flavor makeover when it’s boiled into a porridge and topped with savory delicacies.
- In the sixth and final episode of Season One of Midnight Asia, the documentary explores Manila’s nighttime food scene, including two types of rice porridge: Lugaw and Arroz Caldo.
- Although rice porridge is best known by global culinarians as a milky breakfast dish–congee–in China, nearly every Asian country has some form of rice porridge.
- Essentially slow-boiled rice, rice porridge is a tasty, neutral vessel just waiting to be topped with whatever regional specialties appeal.
- Try any of the rice porridge specialties below and top it with whatever you like. We recommend peanuts, dried fish, chopped green onions, chili oil or a combination of all of them to flavor your dish.
- Don’t stick to our suggestions, try whatever appeals. The only limitation is your own imagination.
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