Asia Tours & Holidays

Every Asian country has its own cuisine based on the local culture, climate, historical traditions, and of course, available ingredients. Still, there are characteristics that are shared across the continent's cuisine, such as a liberal use of spices, resulting in bold and extremely flavourful food. Other common ingredients include garlic, seafood, ginger, soy, chillies and tofu. Rice is an almost ubiquitous staple, although the type favoured differs from region to region. Curry is another popular dish throughout much of the continent, with northern countries generally opting for a yoghurt base while their southern counterparts prefer to use coconut milk. 

The cuisines of this vast continent can be roughly divided into several categories, with the most famous arguably being northeast, southwest and southeast. Northeast style cooking hails from countries including China, Japan and Korea. Food here is not only used for nourishment but as medicine to heal various ailments and enable long lives. The second style of Asian cuisine is southwest. This type of cuisine can be found in countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and features many dishes that are familiar to Western visitors, with curry, naan, and kebabs all on the region's menus. Other staples here include rice, other breads such as chapati, and beans. The third and final most well-known food culture in Asia can be defined as southeast. Found in countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, it generally consists of fresh, quickly prepared food that is flavourful and well seasoned. Fish sauce is traditionally used in many dishes, as is lemongrass, rice and tamarind.