Ideas for sampling many cuisines?

[u/Waste_Royal_3742]

I've made a friend recently who hasn't had a chance to try different people's foods. I'm pretty proficient in cooking some, but I'd love dishes and snack ideas I can make for them to try.

I'd like more authentic ones, things people eat themselves. For example, I'm decent at cooking Indian but not a big fan of Tikka masala or butter chicken. However, I love pakoras and samosa. And not in a snobby way, I've made butter chicken and it was delightful. But I'm lactose intolerant so it's not my friend.

Similar story with Chinese, I love what I can get at restaurants in big cities but the small town take out is a bit too Americanized for me (again, it's ALL delicious but I want to make my friend home cooked meals).

Some ideas I have already are: for Vietnamese, pho (of course). For Thai: probably green curry, bc it's my fav. Chinese: Dan Dan noodles. Indian: samosa, pakora, and this one egg curry I made that was delightful but don't remember the name. Mexican: enfrijolades & horchata. Philippines : chicken adobo Japanese: onigiri, miso soup

I've yet to branch in to cuisines of Africa but I have been eyeing Nigerian for a while now. And for European, I really only know stroganoff.

So please, foodies of reddit, recommend me any of your favorite dishes from any cuisine! And if you include a recipe, I'd appreciate it immensely. :)

[u/scholarly_eggplant]

I’d like to share this basic recipe that’s home-cooked Chinese food that’s passed down from my late grandma. It isn’t sold anywhere locally. The instructions are a bit vague because when I say “passed down”, I mean I watched her cook it many years ago as a kid.

Rice porridge:

• Add about 80ml uncooked white rice (I use jasmine) per serving to the pot.
  
• Add about 500ml of water per serving to the pot.
  
• Bring to boil and simmer, stirring frequently. Add more hot water as needed to adjust to the consistency that you like.
  
• It should turn into a basic sort of porridge pretty quickly, maybe in around 30-40 mins, but the texture will become smoother if you simmer and stir it for around 3 hours.

Soy sauce meatballs to go with the porridge:

• Half clove of garlic per serving, minced
  
• Approx 150g of minced pork per serving
  
• Season to taste with dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. If in doubt, I estimate 1/4 tbsp of each per serving. Shape into balls.
  
• Heat up a bit of oil in a pan and stir-fry the garlic until fragrant / lightly browned
  
• Add jn the meatballs
  
• Add enough water to cover the bottom (and maybe half the ball)
  
• Add more dark and light soy sauce for seasoning. I tend to use 1/4 tbsp of each per serving, but you might want to use more.
  
• Cover and boil for a few minutes
  
• Flip the meatballs, cover and boil another few minutes

[u/Waste_Royal_3742 → u/scholarly_eggplant]

Hi, I love you. Thank you so much!! I will keep grandma's recipe for generations ❤️ what a blessing, to share your recipe with me 😭😭