As we approach the cooler months, sometimes all we want to do is combat the cold with something warm. We’ve rounded up some of Asia’s tastiest comfort foods to beat the winter blues:
Hot Pot
The infamous hot pot combines all of your favorite things into one tasty, warm soup broth. Accompanied by both raw and fresh ingredients to be cooked with your meal — including slices of meat, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, noodles and seafood — the broth can be flavored to your liking. Yum!
Pho
Snuggle up to the warm beef broth, rice noodles and varieties of meats (tripe, tendon and sliced beef) topped with cilantro, scallions, basil, bean sprouts and lime! The clear broth with rice noodles can be dressed up in herbs, hoisin and chili any way you want.
Oden
Japanese oden is another one-pot dish that combines ingredients such as boiled eggs, fish cakes, tofu and daikon (white radish) in a soy broth. This inexpensive dish can easily be found in convenience stores and restaurants for a quick cold weather pick-me-up.
Thai Coconut Curry
Thai curry with rice is the ultimate comfort dish. Thai curries use more herbs and aromatics over spices, and are typically made with curry paste, coconut milk and herbs with a mixture of meats, seafoods and vegetables cooked within. The tartness of fragrant lemongrass and lime cuts through the rich curry for a lovely bite.
Kimchi Jjigae
Kimchi jjigae, or kimchi soup, is one of the best ways to eat up aged kimchi and slowly cure those cold weather blues. The hot bowl of marinated pork belly cooked in kimchi, tofu, onions and mushrooms is most satisfying when paired with a warm bowl of rice.
Taho
Layers of fresh, hot silken tofu, sago (similar to tapioca) pearls and caramel brown sugar syrup (known as arnibal) make this popular Filipino street food snack a perfect way to both curb your cold weather blues and get your sweet tooth on. The soft tofu and chewy sago pearls enveloped in brown sugar syrup is just delicious — for breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between.
What are your favorite dishes to warm up with?
