Colourful and diverse, street food is one
of those travel experiences one can find in cities and towns all around the
world. It's generally convenient and cheap, but its appeal goes far beyond
that. Street food can be simple yet utterly delicious, and it's often a great
way to sample some authentic local cuisine. Joining locals around bustling
little street stalls can open doors and lead to memorable encounters. In some
countries, whether you're a typical foodie or not, you may find that your search
for great street food turned out to be among the best experiences of your trip.
Street food worldwide
Africa
Eastern Africa
Mandazi – fried bread with coconut milk,
eaten as a snack
Kobo Akondro – a steamed mass of ground
peanuts, sugar and flour which is sliced and eaten as a sweet
Mofo – bread made of rice flour, many
different variants
Chipsi Mayai – the name translates to chips
and eggs, and this is the Tanzanian version of the potato omelette
Nsenene and nswaa – grasshoppers and ants,
respectively, eaten as seasonal snacks
Northern Africa
Bessara (also bsarra) – spicy fava bean
soup
Brochettes – skewered meat
Crumbed Liver
Sfenj – oil cooked doughnuts, common all
over North Africa
Spicy sardines
Southern Africa
Boerewors – translates to farmer’s sausage,
boerewors is grilled and served in a bread roll or with pap (maize porridge)
Bunny chow – invented by the Indian
community, this is a bread loaf stuffed with different kinds of curries and
usually eaten by hand
Western Africa
Fufu – a kind of sticky porridge, usually
made of cassava. It’s eaten by hand; formed into small balls, and dipped into
an accompanying soup or stew.
Alloco – fried plantain with chili pepper
and onions
Jollof rice – fried rice with tomatoes,
onions and spices, in short a kind of vegetarian paella or pilaf
Kelewele – diced, fried and seasoned
plantains, eaten as a night or breakfast snack
Kenkey – sourdough dumplings served with
soups and sauces
Waakye – a stew or rice and beans, usually
served with some kind of meat, fish or egg
Asia
China
Banmian – a soup from the Hokkien speaking
area made of fish stock, noodles and fish or meat. Also common in Malaysia and Singapore.
Baozi – steamed buns with different
fillings. Just the buns themselves are called Mantou, and the version filled
with soup is called tangbao.
Bing – a flatbread or pancake. A popular
version is cong you bing with scallion and spices
Chuanr – meat barbecued on skewers. This
can include meats you may have never eaten before like starfish, seahorse or
scorpion, but usually it's lamb or chicken.
Douhua – tofu pudding, eaten with soy
sauce.
Dim sum – not one dish, but a variety of
dumplings and rolls traditionally enjoyed with tea. Somewhat similar to Spanish
tapas or Korean anju. Mostly associated with Hong Kong.
Eggette – originating in Hong
Kong, these are spherical pancakes, eaten as a snack, plain or
with fruits.
Fish balls – balls of fish paste, common in
Hong Kong and in the southern Sinosphere and
often accompanying other dishes
Jiaozi – boiled, fried or steamed dumplings
that can be filled with meat or vegetables. Popular elsewhere in Asia too.
Laping – native to Tibet, this is
a mung bean noodle dish with chili pepper
Malatang – grilled meat skewers, popular in
Beijing
Shahe fen – wide rice noodles, accompanying
many dishes
Spring rolls – fried rolls with different
kinds of filling and wrapping material. Common in many parts around East and Southeast Asia. Lumpia and popiah are variants of the
spring roll.
Stinky tofu – fermented tofu, usually
served fried, most common in Taiwan.
Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore
Asinan – pickled salty vegetables or
fruits, eaten as a snack
Bakwan – battered and fried vegetables
Bakso – “Indonesian meatballs”, usually
served with rice noodles. There are different variants of it, for instance they
can be made of shrimp or fish, filled or skewered.
Bubur ayam – rice porridge with shredded
chicken and topped with various condiments
Bubur cha-cha – a sweet soup made with palm
sugar and coconut milk, including sago and starchy vegetables like beans, sweet
potatoes, and purple yams and popular for breakfast or dessert.
Bubur kacang hijau – a dessert porridge of mung
beans, coconut milk and sugar
Kerak telor – spicy rice omelette with
coconut, scallots and shrimp
Mee rebus – boiled noodles with a spicy
sweet gravy and garnished with different vegetables
Nasi goreng – fried rice with a range of
condiments, usually served with and egg and some kind of meat and vegetables.
Pempek – fish cakes
Siaomay – fish or seafood dumplings
Soto mie – spicy noodle and chicken soup
Curry puffs are little deep-fried savory
pastries with chicken-and-potato curry stuffing. These are very popular in Malaysia.
Ais kacang, also called ABC (short for air
batu campur, Malay for "mixed ice") – shaved ice traditionally
flavored with red beans (kacang=bean) but there are other flavors too
Kuih pinjaram – a flour and coconut milk
snack
Laksa – spicy noodle soup, of which many
kinds exist. The most common versions are curry laksa with coconut curry, asam
laksa with sour fish, and Sarawak laksa with
chili, omelette, chicken strips and prawns.
Maggi goreng – instant noodles cooked with
stock of the Maggi brand
Mee goreng are literally "fried
noodles." These are typically accompanied by strips of plain omelette,
bean sprouts, scallions, shrimps, and chicken or beef, but most any good ingredient
on hand can be used. Various flavors exist, but in general, they are all spicy
and tasty.
Nasi goreng – fried rice, made with similar
ingredients to mee goreng, or whatever good ingredients are on hand
Nasi kandar – steamed rice served with
curries
Nasi lemak – rice cooked in coconut milk
with different toppings and side dishes
Pasembur – a seafood salad
Roti canai – flat bread, which is typically
accompanied by chicken/potato curry sauce. Roti telur has more eggs in the
batter. Capati (also spelled chapatti) is also made similarly in Malaysia. There
is also a sweet flatbread called roti tissue.
Satay – usually meat (most often, chicken
or beef) that's been roasted over a wood fire and put on a skewer; commonly
accompanied by pressed rice (ketupat) and spicy/sweet peanut sauce. Also
popular in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
Teh tarik – this is black tea with milk
poured several times to give it a distinct consistency and cool it
Durian pancake – a pancake filled with
fresh durian, the signature fruit of Southeast Asia
Hainanese chicken rice – exactly that,
boiled and sliced chicken served with a ball of rice and a chili dip. Regarded
as one of Singapore’s
national dishes.
Ice cream burger – a slice of ice cream
wrapped in a large white bread loaf. Be sure to try the version with durian ice
cream
Cendol – a dessert drink based on coconut
milk and jelly rice noodles, ice and sugar
Middle East
Falafel – deep-fried seasoned chickpea or
fava bean balls, commonly eaten as a sandwich in a pita, with a variety of
sides and sauces.
Hummus – a dip with a very long history,
made of chickpeas, sesame, lemon and garlic.
Haleem – a stew of wheat, barley, meat,
lentils and spices, which you can encounter from the Middle East to Bangladesh.
Kibbeh – baked croquettes of ground meat
and bulgur
Murtabak – pancake stuffed with mutton,
garlic, egg and onion and served with curry. It originated on the Arabian
Peninsula but is popular in the Muslim world all the way to Indonesia.
Qatayef – usually served during Ramadan,
these are sweet dumplings with different fillings from cheese to raisins and
vanilla
Sfiha – the nickname “Arab pizza” is very
accurate, it is defined as an open faced meat pie
Shawarma – Slow-baked seasoned pressed
meat, often chicken or lamb, which is cut into strips and commonly eaten as a
sandwich including sides, as is the case with falafel.
Ful medames – cooked and mashed fava beans,
usually served with vegetables and spices
Northeast Asia
In Japan, eating on the street is
normally outside the bounds of etiquette. The tremendous food courts in the
basements of department stores are excellent places to get snacks, but you are
expected to either eat them there or at home, not on the street. Perhaps
surprisingly, 7-Eleven stores also sell good snacks in Japan, if you
don't need anything fancy.
Chikuwa – steamed sticks of ground fish,
eaten as a snack
Oden – a winter dish consisting of boiled
eggs, fish cakes, soy and vegetables, but there are many varieties of it
Okonomiyaki – savoury pancake consisting of
small pieces of a variety of dishes, sushi can be regarded as a kind of street
food even if it’s eaten inside.
Takoyaki – battered and fried balls of
octopus and vegetables
Yakitori – skewered chicken. There are many
different versions made of different parts of the animal
Buuz – mutton or beef filled steamed
dumplings, a kind of hybrid between the Chinese baozi and Russian pelmeni
Khuushuur – fried buuz
Anju – blanket term for snack foods enjoyed
with alcohol
Beondegi – steamed silkworm pupae
Bungeoppang – a pastry formed like a fish
that can be plain or filled; sold during the winter.
Gimbap – Korean style sushi roll with a
variety of fillings
Goguma twigim – fried sweet potatoes served
with a dip
Hotteok – no, it isn't a hotdog but a sweet
pancake.
Jeon – pancakes that can be made with meat,
seafood or vegetables.
Mandu – large steamed Chinese style
dumplings filled with meat
Northern Indochina
Green papaya salad – popular in Thailand as Som tam, but originally from Laos. In
addition to papaya it includes lime, chile, fish sauce and pal sugar
Kuy teav – a noodle soup with meat and
various vegetables, usually eaten for breakfast
Num banh chok – rice noodles with curry
gravy
Mohinga – a fish soup with fritters and
noodles, traditionally eaten as a breakfast
Khanom bueang – crepes filled with coconut
cream
Khao soi – “cut noodles” is a soup of
noodles and meat in curry sauce, native to the northern parts of Thailand plus Laos
and Myanmar
Pad Thai is the most famous street food of
the Chao Phraya Valley
and Bangkok. It
consists of noodles with pieces of plain omelette, bean sprouts, peanuts, birds
eye chilis, shrimp, and various other ingredients.
Phat si io – a stir-fried noodle dish,
somewhat similar to char kway teow further south
Tom yum – a spicy and sour salad-based soup
with fish sauce and herbs
Khanom Pang Ai Tiim – ice cream sandwich on
a hot dog bun
Banh canh – its name translates to
"soup cake". The “cake” part is a lump of noodles in the middle of
the soup, which can be made with meat, seafood or fish.
Banh hoi – bundles of rice noodles topped
with garlic and scallions
Banh mi. This uniquely Vietnamese sandwich,
typically of roast pork with various vegetables, cilantro, birds eye chilis,
paté and mayonnaise on a baguette made with mixed wheat and rice flour and also
available with chicken instead of pork and several other variations, is a
common street food in Vietnam.
Philippines
Balut – boiled egg with a developed chick
embryo inside
Banana cue – bananas coated with sugar and
deep fried on skewers
Camote cue – sweet potatoes coated with
sugar and deep fried
Ginanggang – grilled skewered bananas
covered in margarine
Fishball-a type of processed fish, served
on a stick with a variety of dipping sauces
Isaw – barbecued pig or chicken offal
Kikiam – a type of processed chicken and
pork, served on a stick with a variety of dipping sauces
Lomi – a noodle soup with sauteed meat,
garlic and shallots
Maruya – battered and deep-fried banana
pieces
Proben – deep fried chicken pieces with a
vinegar dip
Sinangag – fried rice with garlic, usually
accompanies meat dishes
South Asia
Appam/hoppers – pancakes made of fermented
rice batter, eaten in Southern India and Sri Lanka
Biryani – the South Asian risotto, believed
to have originated in Hyderabad.
As with other dishes in this region, there’s a wide variety in the meats,
vegetables and spices used.
Chaat is a catchall term for small savory
dishes. Chaat comes in many varieties and regional variations and is sold on
the street throughout India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Falooda – a cold beverage made of syrup,
pasta, basil, gelatin and tapioca
Jalebi – deep fried batter “worms” eaten as
dessert, a bit similar to the American funnel cake or Finnish tippaleipä
Kachori – flour balls filled with beans and
spices eaten as a snack
Kheer – rice pudding eaten for dessert
Kulfi – ice cream which has not been
whipped and is therefore denser
Lassi – a yoghurt-based beverage
Panipuri/phuchka – deep fried filled flour
balls
Aloo chaat – deep fried potatoes with aloo
chaat spice.
Bhelpuri – puffed rice topped with sev
noodles, masala and chutney. Popular in Mumbai.
Chole bhature – spicy chickpeas and bhature
bread
Flatbreads – naan, chapati, paratha and
roti are common types of Indian flatbread, which you will encounter at many
meals in India
as a side or as a wrapper.
Dahipuri – puri bread stuffed with mashed
potatoes or chickpeas and served with chutney
Dosa – a fermented pancake of rice and
black lentils, stuffed with different vegetables and served with chutney
Kati roll – today almost anything wrapped
in a flatbread can be called a kati roll, however when the dish was invented in
Kolkata it was filled with skewered chicken and mutton meat.
Sevpuri – puri stuffed with diced potatoes
and onion and served with chutney. Garnished with sev noodles.
Pakora – deep fried chickpea snacks
Papri chaat – fried flour wafers with
boiled potaoes, yoghurt, chutney and spices, popular in the northern part of
the country.
Pav bhaji – bread rolls with a potato-based
curry
Turkey
Börek – a pastry filled with cheese, minced
meat or vegetables. It’s popular also on the Balkan, Caucasus and in parts of
the Middle East, however böreks there look a
little different.
Boza – a thick, fermented beverage
Gözleme – a baked pastry filled with meat
or cheese
Kebab – sliced meat (beef, chicken or
lamb). It's commonly served with a bread roll, rice or salad. It is popular
both throughout the Middle East and in the
Western world. There are many different versions of kebab.
Kokoretsi – skewered lamb and goat offal
served in or on a bread
Köfte – Turkish meatballs
Kumpir – originally from Istanbul, this is a baked potato filled with
cheese or vegetables
Europe
Benelux
Frikandel – a deep-fried sausage of minced
meat
Mitraillette – a baguette stuffed with
meat, french fries and sauce
Pommes frites (sometimes called
"French fries" in other countries) – so-called "French
fries" actually originate in Belgium. In Belgium they
can be served together with a sauce or mayonnaise or with mussels
(moules-frites). For a really local fast food experience, head to a friterie kiosk
with a variety of foods served deep fried.
Waffles
The Dutch have adopted several types of
foreign street foods as their own, and Vietnamese spring rolls, Döner kebab and
falafel are available from small stalls in most cities.
French fries are highly popular as food to
go, available from small restaurants as well as street stalls. Sometimes
covered with sauces or even as kapsalon, which means covered with sliced meat,
cheese and salad. Fries are typically accompanied by a wide range of deep fried
snacks, such as kaassoufflé (a bread-roll filled with cheese), berenklauw (deep
fried skewer with meatballs and onion rings served with satay sauce) and many
others.
Salted herring – salted herring that is
served as such or in a sandwich. With or without diced onion
Stroopwafel – the syrup waffles are a
dessert snack and originate from Gouda
British Isles
Cornish pasties are a type of meat pie,
traditionally made with steak, potatoes, and plenty of onions
Fish & chips – deep fried battered fish
pieces (usually cod) and potatoes (French fries)
Sandwich – originally named after the 4th
Earl of Sandwich, today few know that one of the most widespread street foods
in the western world originates in England.
Sausage roll – exactly what the name says,
a sausage baked into a pastry
Central Europe
Bosna – the local version of the hotdog
made with grilled white bread, a bratwurst and more spices
Smazeny syr – breaded and fried cheese,
sometimes served in a bun and usually accompanied with a tartar sauce dip
Currywurst – boiled sausage cut into slices
and drowned in a sauce of ketchup and curry, often served with a bun. Invented
in Berlin still popular there and anywhere,
where a large crowd of blue collar workers may be found, such as the Ruhr area
and the VW plant in Wolfsburg
Döner – Döner Kebab originates from Turkey, but since the arrival of Turkish
"guest workers" in Germany
in the 1960s, this savory sandwich or platter of slow-roasted pressed, seasoned
lamb and various sides has been embraced by practically the entire German
nation.
Sandwiches (German: Belegtes Brot, American
style Sandwiches are called "Sandwich" in German as well) – great
almost everywhere in Germany, including most shops in airports and train
stations, because they are made on German bread, which is among if not the best
than certainly the most varied in the world, and almost always use fresh
ingredients for filling. They can however be a bit expensive (even for local
tastes) at some bakeries in "strategic locations".
Sausages – Many types of Wurst (sausage,
German plural "Würste") are frequently sold on the street and in
informal eateries called Imbiss (sometimes spelled Imbiß) in Germany.
Bratwurst (there are several subtypes named for the region where they
originate, the most common being Thüringer [from Thuringia] and Nürnberger
[from Nuremberg])
is fried while Bockwurst and Weißwurst (literally white sausage. Traditionally
eaten before noon in a "Weißwurstfrühstück") are boiled. The latter
is native to Bavaria
and is often served with a pretzel instead of a bun. The traditional condiment
for a Weißwurst is "sweet" mustard.
Kürtöskalacs – a sugar-coated pastry, baked
on a spit, also known as “chimney cake”
Lángos – deep fried flatbread with garlic
and different toppings. Originally from Hungary,
they can now be found in Austria,
Slovakia or even Germany as
well. In some places they are only available on special occasions
Former Soviet Union
Khorovats – barbecued meat skewers
Chiburekki – a half-moon shaped meat-filled
pie, encountered as street food in the western half of the former Soviet Union.
Kvas – a drink of fermented bread with low
alcohol content. Popular on hot summer days.
Pirozhok (pl. pirozhki) – small pies (pirog
are the larger ones for sharing) that can be filled with either meat,
vegetables, cheese, cabbage or various sweeter stuff. In Russian cities like St. Petersburg there are
kiosks selling these in addition to donuts, other snacks and various beverages.
Shashlik – skewered meat and vegetables,
Cossack style. Common also in Western and Central Asia.
Mediterranean Europe
Crêpes – these fine pancakes are not just a
dessert at fine dining places. You can get it from street stalls with a variety
of toppings, both sweet and salty, or plain if you wish.
Galette-saucisse – a grilled sausage
wrapped in a galette (a kind of crepe). Native to the Brittany region.
Pizza al taglio—pizza by the slice
Arancini – a Sicilian specialty, fried
balls of rice filled with meat and tomato sauce
Calzone – this is a folded pizza,
resembling a half moon. A smaller version is known as panzarotti.
Farinata – chickpea pancake from Liguria
Gelato – the Italian version of possibly
the most popular street snack in the world contains more sugar and fat and is
softer than ordinary ice cream.
Pani ca meusa – another Sicilian specialty,
a sort of meat pie of vastedda bread with offal filling
Panino – a grilled sandwich. A variety of
different fillings are possible, but a classic combination could include some
type of meat (such as mortadella, prosciutto crudo, salami or bresaola), cheese
(such as fresh mozzarella, provolone or a local type of pecorino) and
vegetables (such as tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, fresh basil)
Piadina – flatbread filled with cheese,
meat, vegetables or jam. Native to the Romagna
region.
Pizza – a flat bread baked in an oven,
usually topped with at least tomato sauce and cheese, but you can find pizzas
with almost anything on them. However, pizza is traditionally eaten in Italy in
sit-down establishments, with knife and fork, and Neapolitan pizza is too saucy
to attempt to eat on the street. The same may not be true of some of the pizza
further north, like for example the Genovese sardenara. Hand-sized takeaway
pizza is referred to as pizza al taglio—pizza by slice.
Scaccia – a folded flatbread commonly
stuffed with cheese, tomato sauce and onions
Stigghiola – seasoned lamb guts grilled on
skewers
Pastizzi – cheese-filled pastries
Buñuelo – fried donut balls, popular all
around Latin America and in Morocco
too.
Southeastern Europe
Gyro – the Greek variant of kebab, served
in a pita bread with vegetables and tzatziki sauce.
Souvlaki – meat and vegetables grilled on a
skewer, can also be served with or in a pita bread
Pljeskavica – beef with french fries,
sometimes served as a hamburger
Raznjici – grilled kebab meat on skewers
Nordic countries
Pølse – the hot dog was not invented in Denmark , but
hot dog wagons (pølsevogn) are ubiquitous. A typical Danish hot dog is topped
with mustard, ketchup, remoulade sauce, roasted onions and pickle relish.
Fransk hot dog (French hot dog) is a version where the sausage is stuffed from
the end into a small baguette so that just a part of it is visible and has less
toppings.
Smørrebrød – literally buttered bread, but
much more than that. A Danish smørrebrød is a slice of bread topped with either
fish, seafood or meat plus various vegetables and sometimes remoulade or sliced
boiled egg. Often the toppings are overflowing the bread, wherefore it should
be eaten by fork and knife. Depending on where you draw the border, this may or
may not count as street food.
Street food and fast food are overlapping
concepts in Finland.
The best place to find Finnish
street food would be at "grill" kiosks
that you usually find in both in bigger cities and smaller towns. Their menus
usually include different versions of hotdogs, meat pies, hamburgers, chopped
sausage with fries (makkaraperunat), the porilainen and such. In the summer,
market squares in mid-sized and small cities usually have a market day every
week or even more often where you can have some fried sausages, fried vendace
and sometimes Middle Eastern and Asian street food. Four days a year an event
called the Restaurant day takes place. For one day, anyone is allowed to open a
pop-up restaurant without the otherwise strict restrictions to open a
restaurant which in practice means a lot of small street food tables popping up
in city parks.
Lihapiirakka – literally "meat
pie". The Finnish version is deep-fried and flat, filled with minced meat
and rice, sometimes a sausage is added.
Mustamakkara – literally "black
sausage", and as you might guess it is made of blood. This specialty of Tampere is enjoyed with
lingonberry jam and milk.
Paistettuja muikkuja – fried vendace is a
frequent encounter on summer markets, especially in the Finnish Lakeland
Porilainen – a fusion of Pori and hamburger, this consists of two
slices of bread and a thick slice of sausage as a "beef". It's
usually served with a mix of ketchup, mustard, diced onion and cucumbers.
North America
In some cases the boundary between street
food and fast food in the United States
and Canada
is fluid.
Canada
Beaver tail – a fried flat pastry which is
topped with sweet condiments. Originated (with that name) in Ottawa; might not be available elsewhere.
Donair - the East Coast variation of the
döner kebab, adapted to regional tastes and with its special "donair
sauce". Popular in Halifax and to a lesser
extent throughout Eastern Canada.
French fries – thick cut and deep-fried,
sold from the ubiquitous "chip wagons".
Garlic fingers – a kind of pizza topped
with cheese and garlic and cut up in strips instead of slices. Common in Halifax, less common as
you move west.
Poutine – French fries with gravy and
cheese curds poured over them. Originated in Quebec, but now popular throughout the
country.
Shawarma - Just like the döner kebab in
Europe, it's popularity has spread throughout Central
Canada.
Caribbean
Keshi yena – steamed or baked cheese balls
stuffed with meat, typically chicken
Yaniqueques – deep fried cakes, a
derivative of the johnnycake from New England
and a popular beach snack
Jerk Chicken – chicken rubbed with jerk
spice mix and cooked over fire
Patties – savory pastries filled with
chicken/potato curry, beef, callaloo, mixed vegetables, or other fillings
Alcapurria – balls of dough of tubers,
bananas and plantains stuffed with meat and fried
Bacalaíto – battered and deep-fried cod
Sorullos – fried cornmeal sticks
Central America
Pupusas – Salvadoran tortillas filled with
cheese, pork meat and beans, cooked folded over into a hot, gooey pancake
Baleada – the Honduran version of the
tortilla, traditionally filled with fried beans and folded in half
Quesillo – tortillas filled with cheese,
onions and sour cream
Food that you can get at a fritanga
sometimes simply called frito usually including grilled meat (beef, pork or
chicken) tajadas or tostones (made from plantains) and coleslaw
Mexico
Aguas frescas – translating to “fresh
waters”, these are sugary water flavored with various fruits, seeds, cereals
and flowers.
Bionico – a Mexican fruit salad
Chalupa – a platter of tostada (fried
tortillas) formed into a cup and filled with meat, onion and salsa
Elote – boiled or grilled corn on a cob
Empalme – this Nuevo León specialty is a grilled
sandwich of two tortillas with lard, beans and salsa
Enchilada – a tortilla wrap covered in
spicy sauce
Esquites – boiled corn topped with cheese,
chili and sour cream and served in a cup
Gordita – maize cake stuffed with cheese
and meat
Menudo – a soup made with beef tripe and
chili
Paleta – ice pops of fresh fruit
Pozole – a stew of maize, meat and chili
Tacos exist in many varieties, with al
pastor (made with marinated pork) perhaps the most famous, but also including
chivo (goat), lengua (tongue), carne asada (shredded beef), and quite a few
others. Taco trucks also exist in the United
States, especially those portions that were part of Mexico before the Mexican-American War
(including California, New
Mexico, Texas, and Colorado). A burrito is
not very different from a taco, but the contents are completely enclosed.
Stuffed with cheese, they are known as quesadillas. Smaller versions that are
fried, remotely reminiscent of spring rolls, are known as taquitos.
Tamale – masa dough dumplings cooked in
banana leaves. Also common in Central America and parts of the Caribbean
Tejuino – a fermented corn beverage serve
cold with sorbet on the top
Tlayuda – a dish with a tortilla used as a
plate, on which there’s meat, vegetables, beans and avocado
Torta – the Mexican expression for
“sandwich”, with the second part of the name revealing what it’s filled with,
commonly some kind of meat, egg or avocado
Tostilocos – tortilla chips topped with
pork, peanuts and various spices
United States
Chimichanga – deep-fried burrito,
originating in Arizona or New Mexico
Dollar slice - single slice of pepperoni
pizza or plain cheese pizza for $1, ubiquitous in New York City
Fried scallop rolls
Frybread – flat dough bread
Hamburger a sandwich consisting a cooked
patty placed inside a bread roll or bun
Honey-roasted nuts
Hot dog cooked sausage served in a
partially sliced bun
Knish – baked, grilled or deep fried pies
that can be filled with potatoes, kasha (buckwheat), meat, cheese or
vegetables. Popularized by Eastern European immigrants in New York.
Korean taco – truly a fusion street food,
tacos filled with bulgogi, kimchi and other Korean food
Lobster roll – like a hot dog, but with
lobster meat and mayonnaise instead of the sausage and mustard
Pilgrim – a sandwich with turkey,
cranberries and cheddar cheese
Po’boy – a submarine sandwich from Louisiana consisting of
baguette topped with roast beef or fried seafood
Salt pretzels
Steak sandwich – a bread roll with steak
and different kinds of toppings. One of the best known versions is the Philly
Cheesesteak with steak and melted cheese, often topped with diced onions,
mustard and ketchup.
Oceania
Australian meat pie – a pie filled with
minced meat and gravy, often topped with mashed potatoes and peas.
Pie floater – when the above meat pie is
served floating in a bowl of pea soup, common in Adelaide
Sausage sizzle – the hot dog has an Aussie
cousin too. The sausage sizzle is barbecued sausage served on slice bread with
different toppings.
Ota ika/ika mata – raw fish that’s been
marinated in citrus juice, spices and coconut milk, similar to the Peruvian
ceviche
South America
Andean countries
Salteña – the Bolivian version of the
empanada stuffed with beef, pork or chicken and a spicy sauce.
Tawatawa – sweet fried dough with syrup,
served cold
Hornado – roast pork served with fried
potato cakes (llapingacho) and maize
Anticuchos – the Peruvian version of satay
Humita – paste made from fresh grated maize
corns, boiled wrapped in corn husks, and turned into a dumpling. It can be
combined with lard and salt and fresh cheese for a savory dish or with sugar,
cinnamon and raisins for a sweet dish. Savory humitas may also be prepared with
anise.
Papa rellena – stuffed potatoes, commonly
stuffed with beef, onions, eggs and vegetables
Picarones – donuts with squash and sweet
potato
Salchipapa – a mix of fried sausages and
potatoes with coleslaw and chili
Brazil
Açaí na tigela – a smoothie of the thick
creamy purple juice from the grated fruit of the açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea),
topped with other fruits
Acarajé – deep-fried balls of black-eyed
peas, originating in Africa.
Cachorro Quente – hot dog, often topped
with green peas, maize and french fries
Coxinha – meat (usually chicken meat)
formed into a cone and deep-fried
Pamonha – made with grated maize, identical
to Peruvian humita
Pão de queijo – these “cheese breads” are
eaten for breakfast
Pastel: deep-fried pastry filled with
cheese, minced meat or ham
Tapioca (or more precisely, "beiju de
tapioca"): made with the cassava starch, also known as tapioca starch.
When heated in a pan, it coagulates and becomes a type of pancake or dry crepe,
shaped like a disk. Some will serve it folded in half, others will roll it
rocambole-style. The filling varies, but it can be done sweet or savory, with
the most traditional flavors being grated coconut/condensed milk (sweet), beef
jerky/coalho cheese, plain cheese, and butter (savory). However, in recent
times it has become a "gourmetized" food item, to be treated with
creativity; nutella, chocolate, napolitano (pizza cheese/ham/tomato/oregano)
and shredded chicken breast/catupiry cheese being almost standard options
nowadays.
Northern South America
Aborrajado – deep fried plantains stuffed
with cheese
Almojábana – corn and cheese bread
Granizado – a drink of shaved ice, sweet
milk and syrup
Natilla – a custard dessert, usually eaten
around Christmas
Salpicon – a fruit cocktail
Arepas, which are essentially stuffed
corn-flour dumplings, are a specialty of Venezuela.
Cachapa – corn pancakes, traditionally
eaten with queso de mano (“hand-made cheese”)
Temperate South
America
Choripán can be considered the hot dog's
South American cousin. It is a grilled lengthwise cut chorizo in a baguette
with chimichurri sauce poured over it.
Tortilla – in northern Argentina, this
word refers to a sort of large, flat empanada
Completo – a Chilean version of the hot dog
with chopped tomatoes, mayo and sauerkraut
Sopapilla – fried flat donuts that are also
popular elsewhere in Latin America
Chivito – a larger version of hamburger
where the beef is replaced with a steak and with many more toppings, always
including a fried egg.
Churro – often filled with jelly or dulce
de leche
Garrapiñada – sugar-roasted peanuts and
sometimes almonds found in Argentina
and Uruguay
Torta frita – a Uruguayan sort of fried
pancake, not totally dissimilar from Chilean sopaipilla
Source from Wikivoyage
