By Lyla Shroff

Street food is an integral part of cultures around the globe. Each country has its own unique flavours, ingredients, and cooking techniques that make its street food distinctive. This type of food is also the most affordable way to experience traditional cuisines and live like a local in a foreign country. Vendors selling street food are often found in public places like markets and parks. Here, we have curated a list of some of the most-loved street food dishes from various countries. Read on to find out how familiar you are with global street food and don’t forget to bookmark these dishes for your next trip.

1. Vada Pav from India

The widely populated country of India is known for its diverse cultures and flavourful cuisines. Street food culture is extremely popular in India—each street, market, and fair will have tons of vendors selling fragrant dishes. Vada Pav is a classic Indian street food that is infamous in the city of Mumbai. It features a crispy, battered, aromatic potato ball stuffed in a soft bun. When paired with a hot cup of chai (tea), it is the perfect comfort food on a rainy day.

2. Takoyaki from Japan

Takoyaki is a grilled octopus-shaped ball that originated in Osaka, Japan. Vendors on the streets of Japan have several rows of cast iron pans with half spherical moulds that they use to cook these delicious treats in. A piece of octopus and some green onions are added to a dashi flavoured batter and cooked in these moulds. The public can watch as the chefs skilfully turn the balls around in the moulds to cook them evenly. Finally, they are topped off with a savoury teriyaki sauce, some mayonnaise, and tempura bits.

3. Pad Thai from Thailand

Pad Thai is a classic Thai dish that has gained popularity globally due to its flavourful and savoury taste. Consisting of stir-fry rice-noodles with bean sprouts, vegetables, tofu, chicken or shrimp, this dish is flavoured with a nutty sauce made with tamarind, peanuts, chilli flakes, fish sauce, and lime juice.

4. Tacos al Pastor from Mexico

Tacos al pastor is a popular Mexican street food dish consisting of thin slices of pork from a rotating spit that is placed on a tortilla and topped with chopped onions and coriander, bits of pineapple, chilli, and some tangy salsa.

5. Yorkshire Burrito from England

This is a viral and modern take on the traditional Roast, allowing one to have all the goodness of a Sunday Roast on-the-go. Yorkshire Burrito is a street food chain that is located in popular parts of London such as Shoreditch, Camden Market and Leather Lane Market. A fluffy Yorkshire Pudding is stuffed with all the contents of a Roast, including beef, chicken, or cauliflower, crispy potatoes, stuffing and gravy, all wrapped up into a burrito.

Image credits: Source: @yorksburrito on Instagram

6. Gyros from Greece

Gyros is a dish made from roasted meat, served in a pita bread. It often includes tomatoes, onions, fried potatoes, and tzatziki sauce. The meat—chicken, lamb, beef, or pork—is roasted on a vertical rotisserie and sliced off in thin shavings of meat.

7. Tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cakes) from South Korea

Tteokbokki is the most popular street food snack amongst the locals in South Korea. Soft and chewy rice cakes are cooked in a spicy chilli paste sauce and can also be served with cheese to mitigate the heat. This dish is sometimes also made with cabbage, fish cakes, green onions, and garlic. It is often paired with Eomuk (fish cakes in a hot clear broth) or Twigim, which is a platter of various fried foods like squid, dumplings, sweet potato, and more.

8. Luqaimat from UAE

Luqaimat, also known as Lokma, is a popular street food in the city of Dubai. These dough balls are deep fried to a perfect golden colour and are topped with a sweet date syrup, honey, or dusted with sugar. This sweet Arabic treat is often eaten by locals during the holy month of Ramadan.

9. Cannoli from Italy

Originating in Sicily, Cannoli are deep fried pastries that are filled with chocolate, cream, or sweet ricotta. They are moulded into a tube-like shape and are often sprinkled with powdered sugar.

10. Bunny Chow from South Africa

This is an Indian South African street food dish, consisting of a hollowed-out loaf of white bread, which is filled with curry, meat, spices, and chickpeas. It is said that the name ‘bunny’ comes from an Indian term that refers to merchants, but it could also refer to the resemblance of the white loaf to a bunny’s body. It originated from the Indian South Africans living in Durban and is now a popular dish enjoyed by all.

Image credits: @natashas.eats on Instagram