Food of Southeast Asia

As our trip is slowly coming to an end, and we are back in The Netherlands for a quick visit before moving across the pond, friends and family have asked if we are just plain sick of Asian food.

And the answer is a very strong: NO WAY! 

Actually we both lost some pounds (probably also due to carting around backpacks every few days!)...yet we ate like pigs. It's not even that we shed some weight (Christian can't fit into his old pants anymore lol), we just felt healthier. Even with all of the rice, the noodles and salty sauces...we felt better eating Asian food than we did eating Western food back home.

A friend of mine living in Bangkok explained why this could be so: cooks visit the food markets every morning for their daily ingredients because they usually don't have the means to store food in refrigerators, etc. At the same time, fruits and vegetables are locally bought and free of preservatives, sugars, etc. 

Food is so fresh and simply made in Asia, it makes me completely rethink how I'll prepare food in the future.

The dishes aren't only delicious but very colorful and pretty to look at :)...even if it comes straight from a food cart on the side of the road.

We had so many favorite dishes. Nepalese momos, potatoes aloo, noodle soups basically everywhere. But during almost every meal in Thailand we ordered Chicken or Pork with Holy Basil and Chilis or Pad Thai. Christian's all-time favorite while on the road was Singapore's Wonton Mee.

Here are some of our favorite dishes we had in Asia!

From left to right:

Top row: Nasi Campur (Indonesia), Bowl of chilis and garlic (Thailand), Momos (Nepal)

Second row: Noodle Soup (Laos), Pad Thai (Thailand), Shrimp with basil and chilis (Thailand)

Third row: Curry chicken noodles (Malaysia), Green Curry (Thailand), Ramen with Pork (Japan)

Last Row: Wonton Mee (Singapore), Grilled Prawns with Garlic Rice (Philippines), Chicken Laap (Laos)

We must make some honorable mentions outside of SE Asia to our feast of falafel, fuul, hummus and pita at Hashem Restaurant in Amman, Jordan. And Korean BBQ everywhere in Seoul. Just delicious!!