List of street foods facts for kids

Street food: a hot dog stand in Visby, Sweden

Street food is yummy, ready-to-eat food or drinks. You can usually buy it from a vendor on the street, at a market, or at a fair. It's often sold from a small food booth, food cart, or food truck. Street food is made for you to eat right away! Some street foods are only found in certain places, but many are now popular all over the world. You can find street food vendors everywhere, but what they sell changes a lot from one place to another.

Most street foods are like finger food (you eat them with your hands) and fast food. They are usually cheaper than eating at a restaurant. A study from 2007 by the Food and Agriculture Organization found that 2.5 billion people enjoy street food every single day!

Awesome Street Foods Around the World
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Awesome Street Foods Around the World

Acarajé
- Where it's from: Brazil
- What it is: These are peeled beans shaped into a ball. They are then deep-fried in dendê (palm oil).

Aloo chaat
- Where it's from: Northern India
- What it is: This snack is made by frying potatoes in oil. Then, spices and chutney are added.

Aloo tikki
- Where it's from: Northern India
- What it is: A snack made from boiled potatoes, onions, and different spices.

Anticucho
- Where it's from: South America
- What it is: Small pieces of meat, usually beef heart, are marinated in vinegar and spices. They are then grilled and served on a stick. Anticucho started in Peru and is now common across South America. You can buy it from food stalls called anticucheras.

Arancini
- Where it's from: Sicily, Italy
- What it is: These are stuffed rice balls. They are coated with bread crumbs and then deep-fried. They often have ragù (meat and tomato sauce), mozzarella, and peas inside.

Arepa
- Where it's from: Venezuela, Colombia
- What it is: A flat, round patty made from ground maize (corn). It can be grilled, baked, fried, boiled, or steamed.

Asinan
- Where it's from: Indonesia
- What it is: A vegetable or fruit dish. It is pickled with brine (salty water) or vinegar.

Bagel
- Where it's from: Poland (Jewish communities), then New York City
- What it is: A ring-shaped bread roll. The dough is boiled in water for a short time, then baked. This makes it dense and chewy inside, with a browned, sometimes crispy, outside.

Bakso
- Where it's from: Indonesia
- What it is: A soup with meatballs, noodles, and other ingredients. The meatballs are often made from finely ground beef with a little tapioca flour and salt. Bakso can also be made from chicken, pork, fish, or shrimp.

Banana cue
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: Deep-fried bananas coated in caramelized brown sugar. After cooking, they are served on skewers.

Bánh canh
- Where it's from: Vietnam
- What it is: A thick noodle made from tapioca flour or a mix of rice and tapioca flour. It's used in many Vietnamese dishes.

Bánh hỏi
- Where it's from: Vietnam
- What it is: A dish with rice vermicelli noodles woven into neat bundles. It's often topped with chopped scallions or garlic chives cooked in oil. It's served with a meat dish.

Bánh mì
- Where it's from: Vietnam
- What it is: A type of sandwich with meat filling on bánh mì bread. The bread is like a baguette but lighter and with a thinner crust. Different fillings are used, usually pork or chicken.

Bánh xèo
- Where it's from: Vietnam
- What it is: A savory fried pancake. It's made of rice flour, water, and turmeric powder. It's stuffed with fatty pork, shrimp, green onion, and bean sprouts.

Baozi
- Where it's from: China and Southeast/East Asia
- What it is: Baozi comes from China and is found in many Asian countries. The dough is made from flour, water, and yeast, and it's steamed, not baked. Baozi can have different fillings. If it's empty, it's often eaten with other dishes.

Batagor
- Where it's from: Indonesia
- What it is: Fried fish dumplings, usually served with peanut sauce. "Batagor" is short for bakso tahu goreng, which means fried tofu and meatballs. It's a type of siomay that is deep-fried instead of steamed.

Batata vada
- Where it's from: Maharashtra, India
- What it is: A mashed potato patty coated with chickpea flour. It's then deep-fried and served hot with chutney. It's a thick, round ball, about two or three inches wide.

Belgian waffle
- Where it's from: Belgium, United States
- What it is: In North America, it's a waffle with a lighter batter, bigger squares, and deeper pockets than regular American waffles. In Belgium, there are different kinds of waffles, but none are called "Belgian."

Beondegi
- Where it's from: South Korea
- What it is: Steamed or boiled silkworm larvae. They are seasoned and eaten as a snack.

Bhelpuri
- Where it's from: India
- What it is: A savory snack and a type of chaat. It's made from puffed rice, vegetables, and a tangy tamarind sauce.

Bibingka
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: A rice cake cooked in a clay pot on the streets of the Philippines. It's often topped with butter, muscovado sugar, coconut, grated cheese, and salted duck egg.

Boureka
- Where it's from: Middle East and Balkans
- What it is: Baked puff pastry or filo dough. It has different fillings like cheese, spinach, or potatoes.

Bramborák
- Where it's from: Czech Republic
- What it is: A Czech potato pancake. It's made from grated potatoes with egg, breadcrumbs or flour, and spices like garlic and marjoram. It's served as is.

Bratwurst
- Where it's from: Germany
- What it is: A sausage usually made with pork and veal. It's often seasoned with ginger, nutmeg, coriander, or caraway. Recipes for this sausage vary by region.

Bread pakora
- Where it's from: India
- What it is: A fried snack made with bread slices, gram flour, and spices. Sometimes it's filled with mashed potatoes.

Breakfast burrito
- Where it's from: Southwestern United States
- What it is: Breakfast foods like scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, and cheese, wrapped inside a flour tortilla. It was first made in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Brochette
- Where it's from: France and other places
- What it is: Different meats and vegetables cooked on brochettes, which are skewers.

Bublik or baranka
- Where it's from: Ukraine, Russia, Belarus
- What it is: A ring-shaped bread roll. It's like a bagel, but a bit bigger, denser, and sweeter.

Bubur ayam
- Where it's from: Indonesia
- What it is: A porridge made of rice and shredded chicken. It's served with soy sauce, spices, fried shallots, cakwee (fried dough), krupuk (a type of cracker), and sambal (a hot sauce). It's often eaten for breakfast.

Bun cha
- Where it's from: Vietnam
- What it is: Grilled fatty pork (chả) served over white rice noodles (bún) and herbs. It comes with a side of dipping sauce.

Bun kebab
- Where it's from: Pakistan (Karachi and other places)
- What it is: A fried patty made of ground lentils, chicken or beef, egg batter, and spices. It's served on a bun with chutney.

Bunny chow
- Where it's from: South Africa
- What it is: A hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with curry.

Burrito
- Where it's from: Mexico, United States
- What it is: A wheat flour tortilla wrapped or folded into a cylinder. It completely holds different fillings.

Calzone
- Where it's from: Italy, United States
- What it is: A folded pizza dough stuffed with pizza ingredients. These include mozzarella and ricotta cheeses, tomato sauce, and sausage.

Camote cue
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: Slices of sweet potato deep-fried with a coating of caramelized brown sugar. Sometimes it's served on a bamboo skewer.

Carrozza
- Where it's from: Campania, Italy
- What it is: A fried cheese sandwich. It's made by frying mozzarella cheese between slices of bread.

Cendol
- Where it's from: Malaysia and South/Southeast Asia
- What it is: An iced dessert. It's made from dark palm sugar syrup, coconut milk, pandan extract, and bean flour. It's topped with azuki beans, grass jelly, and palm seeds.

Ceviche
- Where it's from: Latin America
- What it is: Ceviche is a street food in Peru. It is even considered a national dish there.

Chaat
- Where it's from: Northern India, Pakistan, and other parts of South Asia
- What it is: A savory snack. It's a mix of ingredients, often including fried dough, potatoes, chickpeas, chutney, and tangy spices.

Chai tow kway
- Where it's from: Singapore
- What it is: Also known as carrot cake. It's a dish made with rice flour and white radish. It's stir-fried with garlic, eggs, and served in white or black style, depending on the soy sauce used.

Char kway teow
- Where it's from: Singapore and Malaysia
- What it is: A flat rice noodle dish stir-fried over high heat. It uses dark soy sauce, bean sprouts, chives, lard, eggs, and shellfish.

Chee cheong fun
- Where it's from: China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia
- What it is: Also known as rice noodle roll. These are white rolls cut from steamed sheets of rice or tapioca flour. Before serving, they are seasoned with soy sauce and topped with shallots, scallions, and sesame seeds.

Chiburekki
- Where it's from: Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey
- What it is: A deep-fried turnover. It has a filling of ground or minced beef or mutton with onions and spices.

Chicharrón
- Where it's from: Latin America, Philippines
- What it is: Fried pork rinds.

Chiko Roll
- Where it's from: Australia
- What it is: A brand name for a deep-fried food. It's like an egg roll, with a thick, chewy dough wrapper. It's stuffed with mutton, barley, cabbage, carrots, celery, rice, and seasonings.

Chimi de pierna
- Where it's from: Dominican Republic
- What it is: A sandwich with pulled pork leg, sliced cabbage, and other ingredients. These are usually chopped on a griddle with special seasoning. A cheaper version with processed meat is called "chimi burger" or "chimi."

Chimichanga
- Where it's from: Southwestern United States
- What it is: A deep-fried burrito.

Chinese bhel
- Where it's from: Mumbai, India
- What it is: A dish from Indian Chinese cuisine. It's made with fried noodles, sautéed vegetables, onions, and spices.

Chivito
- Where it's from: Uruguay
- What it is: A large sandwich with churrasco (grilled, thinly-sliced filet mignon) on a roll. It has mozzarella, lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise, and other things like bacon, ham, and eggs.

Choripán
- Where it's from: Argentina
- What it is: A beef or pork sausage, grilled and split lengthwise. It's served on a roll with different sauces. The name comes from chorizo (sausage) and pan (bread).

Chuan
- Where it's from: China
- What it is: Small pieces of meat on skewers. They are roasted over charcoal or deep-fried in oil. Chuan was traditionally made from lamb, but now chicken, pork, beef, and seafood are also used.

Grilled corn
- Where it's from: Southeast Asia
- What it is: Corn on the cob, grilled with coconut milk, sugar, and pandan leaf.

Corn dog
- Where it's from: United States
- What it is: A hot dog on a stick, coated with cornmeal batter and deep-fried.

Covrigi
- Where it's from: Romania
- What it is: A baked, twisted piece of dough, like a pretzel. It's usually topped with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and/or salt.

Coxinha
- Where it's from: Brazil
- What it is: Chopped or shredded chicken meat covered in dough. It's shaped like a chicken leg, battered, and fried.

Crêpe
- Where it's from: France
- What it is: A very thin pancake. Crêpes are a very common street food in Paris, France.

Curry puff
- Where it's from: Southeast Asia
- What it is: A turnover with a pastry shell. It's filled with potatoes or sardines, onions, curry powder, and spices.

Currywurst
- Where it's from: Germany
- What it is: A fried pork sausage topped with curry ketchup and curry powder. It's served whole or cut up, sometimes with French fries.

Dahi puri
- Where it's from: Maharashtra, India
- What it is: A type of chaat made with puri (a deep-fried bread), chickpeas or potatoes, chili powder, and chutney.

Dak-kkochi
- Where it's from: South Korea
- What it is: Grilled chicken skewers. The meat is cooked and sliced, then coated with barbecue spices. Mayonnaise and mustard can also be added.

Danger dog
- Where it's from: Mexico
- What it is: A hot dog wrapped in bacon. It's either deep-fried or grilled. Unlicensed vendors often sell it.

Dim sum
- Where it's from: China
- What it is: Small, bite-sized portions of food. They are served in small steamer baskets or on small plates.

Doner kebab
- Where it's from: Turkey, Germany, and other places
- What it is: Meat (often veal mixed with lamb) cooked on a tall, spinning rotisserie. It's usually served wrapped in a flatbread with salad and sauces.

Doubles
- Where it's from: Trinidad and Tobago/Caribbean (with Indian influence)
- What it is: A sandwich made with two baras (flat fried bread) filled with curry channa (curried chick peas). It's topped with mango, shadon beni, cucumber, coconut, tomato, or tamarind chutney, or extra pepper sauce. This is the most popular fast food in Trinidad and Tobago. People eat Doubles for breakfast, lunch, or as a late-night snack.

Doughnut
- Where it's from: United States and other places
- What it is: A ring-shaped pastry made from deep-fried flour dough. It often has frosting, glazing, or a sweet filling.

Douhua
- Where it's from: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia
- What it is: A soft pudding made from tofu. Depending on what's added, douhua can be savory or sweet.

Dürüm
- Where it's from: Turkey, Europe
- What it is: A wrap usually filled with typical döner kebab ingredients or other types of Turkish kebab.

Egg waffle
- Where it's from: Hong Kong
- What it is: A fluffy waffle made with eggy batter. It's cooked between two plates with semi-spherical cells. It's usually served plain.

Elote
- Where it's from: Mexico
- What it is: Corn on the cob, grilled and then coated with butter or mayonnaise, salt, chili powder, añejo cheese, and lime juice. Sometimes it's served on a stick.

Empanada
- Where it's from: Philippines, South America, Spain
- What it is: A turnover made with pastry dough. It has various savory fillings, usually including some kind of ground or chopped meat. It's most often baked but sometimes fried.

Enchilada
- Where it's from: Mexico
- What it is: A corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a chili pepper sauce. Enchiladas can have many different fillings.

Espetinhos
- Where it's from: Brazil
- What it is: Small pieces of beef, chicken, or other meat, grilled on skewers. They are usually served with hot sauce.

Esquites
- Where it's from: Mexico
- What it is: Fresh corn kernels are boiled in salted water, then cooked in butter with onions, chile peppers, and spices. It's served hot in small cups and topped with lime juice, chile powder or hot sauce, salt, and mayonnaise.

Falafel
- Where it's from: Middle East
- What it is: Deep-fried balls of ground chickpeas (or sometimes fava beans). They are often served with salad and tahini sauce in pita bread or a wrap.

Farinata
- Where it's from: Italy, France
- What it is: A thin, unleavened pancake or crêpe made of chickpea flour. It started in Genoa and is now a common food along the Ligurian Sea coast.

Fish and chips
- Where it's from: United Kingdom and Ireland
- What it is: Large fillets of batter-fried whitefish served with thick-cut chips (French fries).

Fish balls
- Where it's from: Southern China and Southeast Asia
- What it is: Small, round dumplings made from fish paste (fish that has been made into a paste).

Fish ball noodles
- Where it's from: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia
- What it is: A Chinese noodle dish from Teochew and Fujian provinces. It's based on fish-balls and other ingredients, available dry or in soup.

Fish taco
- Where it's from: Mexico (Baja California and other places)
- What it is: A taco filled with batter-fried whitefish and other ingredients like guacamole and salsa.

Focaccia
- Where it's from: Italy
- What it is: A flatbread similar to pizza dough in style and texture. It's topped with cheese, herbs, and other ingredients.

French fries
- Where it's from: Europe and the United States
- What it is: Sliced potatoes that are usually deep-fried. They can also be baked.

Fried chicken
- Where it's from: Thailand
- What it is: Chicken pieces that are deep-fried with coriander, garlic, fish sauce, pepper, and other spices.

Frybread
- Where it's from: Southwestern United States
- What it is: A flat dough fried or deep-fried in oil, shortening, or lard. It's usually made with baking powder.

Funnel cake
- Where it's from: United States
- What it is: A sweet snack made by pouring batter through a funnel into hot oil in a circle. It's deep-fried, then sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Galette-saucisse
- Where it's from: Brittany, France
- What it is: A pork sausage wrapped in a buckwheat pancake.

Gelato
- Where it's from: Italy
- What it is: A rich dessert with different flavors. Gelato has less air and more flavor than other frozen desserts like ice cream.

Gimbap
- Where it's from: South Korea
- What it is: Gimbap looks like a big Japanese sushi roll. But it's not made with vinegared rice like sushi. Instead, it uses cooked white rice rolled in seaweed with vegetables and other ingredients like meat, fish, egg, and cheese.

Ginanggang
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: Pieces of saba banana on a stick. They are brushed with margarine, sprinkled with sugar, and grilled over charcoal.

Gỏi cuốn
- Where it's from: Vietnam
- What it is: Pork, prawns, vegetables, bún (thin rice noodles), and other ingredients wrapped in bánh tráng (a thin wrapper made from rice flour). It's similar to spring rolls and sometimes called "summer rolls."

Gorengan
- Where it's from: Indonesia
- What it is: A type of fritter. Many kinds are sold by street vendors from traveling carts. Different ingredients are battered and deep-fried, such as pisang goreng (banana fritter), tempeh, tahu goreng (fried tofu), oncom, sweet potato, cassava chunk, cassava flour, and breadfruit. These are often eaten with fresh bird's eye chili.

Grilled cheese sandwich
- Where it's from: United States & Canada
- What it is: A sandwich of melted cheese on toasted bread. Many versions exist, but it was originally made by heating buttered bread and slices of American cheese in a skillet.

Gukhwappang
- Where it's from: South Korea
- What it is: Small pastries shaped like chrysanthemum flowers. They are filled with red bean paste.

Gyeranppang
- Where it's from: South Korea
- What it is: A fluffy bread roll with an egg inside.

Gyro
- Where it's from: Greece
- What it is: Meat (usually lamb, pork, and/or beef) cooked on a vertical rotisserie. It's typically served wrapped in a flatbread like pita, with cucumber, tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce.

Haleem
- Where it's from: Middle East, Central Asia, Pakistan, India
- What it is: A stew made with wheat, barley, lentils, and lamb or other meat.

Halo-halo
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: A cold dessert. It's a mix of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and various other ingredients. For example, caramelized plantains, jackfruit, tapioca, sugar palm fruit, coconut, sweet potato, boiled kidney beans, and flan.

Hamburger
- Where it's from: United States and other places
- What it is: A cooked patty of ground beef, served on a bun or roll. It often has toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and ketchup. A hamburger with cheese is called a cheeseburger.

Hokkien mee
- Where it's from: Singapore, Malaysia (Penang)
- What it is: Rice noodles and egg noodles with prawns, pork or chicken, egg, bean sprouts, and other ingredients. It's served with soy sauce and sambal chili pepper sauce.

Hot dog
- Where it's from: United States
- What it is: A sausage, usually made with beef and/or pork. It's grilled or steamed and served in a sliced bun with mustard and other toppings.

Ice cream
- Where it's from: Europe, North America, and other places
- What it is: Frozen, sweetened milk and/or cream. It's often mixed with fruits or other ingredients and flavors.

Hotteok
- Where it's from: South Korea
- What it is: A type of pancake made with yeasted wheat dough. It's stuffed with a mix of brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, and chopped peanuts.

Ice cream cone
- Where it's from: United States and other places
- What it is: Ice cream served on an edible cone-shaped pastry. It's a bit like a thin, crispy waffle. This lets you eat ice cream without a dish or spoon.

Imqaret
- Where it's from: Malta
- What it is: A sweet treat made with pastry and a filling of dates. It's usually flavored with aniseed and bay leaf, then deep-fried.

Isaw
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: Chicken intestines that are cleaned, boiled, put on a skewer, and grilled over charcoal. They are served with a dipping sauce of spiced vinegar or barbecue sauce.

Jerk chicken
- Where it's from: Jamaica
- What it is: Chicken soaked in a spicy marinade. This marinade often includes allspice berries, Scotch bonnet peppers, thyme, scallions, and fresh ginger. Then, it's smoked over charcoal at a high heat, resting on green allspice wood logs, under a metal cover.

Jambon
- Where it's from: Ireland
- What it is: Square pastries filled with cheese and chunks of ham.

Jambon-beurre
- Where it's from: France
- What it is: Made from a fresh baguette sliced open. It's spread with butter (salted or unsalted) and filled with slices of ham.

Jerusalem mixed grill
- Where it's from: Jerusalem
- What it is: Chicken livers, gizzards, and hearts. They are cooked with various spices and then grilled. It's served on a plate or as a sandwich in pita bread.

Jiaozi
- Where it's from: China and Southeast/East Asia
- What it is: Dumplings with a ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped in thin dough. They are often steamed but can also be fried or boiled.

Kai yang
- Where it's from: Laos and Thailand
- What it is: A chicken that is marinated and then grilled over charcoal. The marinade usually includes fish sauce, garlic, turmeric, coriander root, and white pepper.

Kaya toast
- Where it's from: Singapore and Malaysia
- What it is: Toast with a spread of kaya (coconut jam) and butter. It's traditionally grilled over charcoal and often served with half-boiled eggs and coffee.

Kati roll
- Where it's from: India (Kolkata)
- What it is: A skewer-roasted kebab or other meat, wrapped in a paratha or other bread.

Kebab
- Where it's from: Middle East and other places
- What it is: Small pieces of meat that have been grilled, often on a skewer over charcoal.

Kerak telor
- Where it's from: Indonesia (Betawi)
- What it is: Spicy coconut omelette. It's made from glutinous rice cooked with egg and served with serundeng (fried shredded coconut), fried shallots, and dried shrimp as toppings. It's a popular street food in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Ketoprak
- Where it's from: Indonesia (Betawi)
- What it is: A vegetarian dish from Jakarta, Indonesia. It has tofu, vegetables, rice cake, and rice vermicelli. It's served in peanut sauce.

Khachapuri
- Where it's from: Georgia
- What it is: Bread stuffed with tasty cheese and an egg.

Khanom Tokyo
- Where it's from: Thailand
- What it is: A thin, flat pancake filled with sweet custard cream. Sometimes it has a savory filling like pork or sausage. It's then rolled into a cylinder.

Knish
- Where it's from: United States (New York City), and before that, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, and Jewish communities
- What it is: A baked turnover of dough with different fillings, such as potatoes or ground beef.

Kofta
- Where it's from: Middle East, North Africa, and other places
- What it is: Balls or small patties of minced or ground meat. It's usually beef, chicken, lamb, or pork, mixed with spices and onions.

Korean taco
- Where it's from: Canada, United States
- What it is: A Korean-Mexican fusion dish. It has Korean-style fillings, like bulgogi and kimchi, on small traditional Mexican corn tortillas.

Korokke
- Where it's from: Japan
- What it is: Similar to the French croquette. It's a breaded and fried patty made from mashed potato, white sauce, and/or other ingredients.

Kottu
- Where it's from: Sri Lanka
- What it is: Godamba roti (a type of flatbread) is chopped up and mixed with chicken or beef, eggs, and spices. The mixture is grilled and topped with onion, chili peppers, and other spices.

Kueh Pie Tee
- Where it's from: Singapore
- What it is: Also known as Nonya Top Hats. This peranakan finger food has yam bean, omelette, scallions, and other shredded ingredients. They are put into crispy rice flour cups.

Kyinkyinga
- Where it's from: Ghana and other parts of West Africa
- What it is: A beef kebab made with steak meat or liver. It's covered with peanut flour. It's common in West Africa.

Laksa
- Where it's from: Southeast Asia, Peranakan cuisine
- What it is: A spicy soup with rice noodles. It usually has fish, prawns, or chicken. Many different versions exist, most based on rich and spicy curry coconut milk or slightly sour tamarind.

Lángos
- Where it's from: Hungary
- What it is: A deep-fried flatbread. It's served with various toppings like sour cream and grated cheese.

Lo mai fan
- Where it's from: China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia
- What it is: A Cantonese style sticky rice dish. It's made with soy sauce, shiitake mushrooms, scallions, peanuts, and other ingredients.

Lok-lok
- Where it's from: Malaysia
- What it is: Many different food items are served on skewers. The customer picks the skewers they want, which are then cooked in boiling oil or water. Different dipping sauces are also provided. At the end, the customer pays based on the number of color-coded skewers.

Lontong sayeur
- Where it's from: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore
- What it is: Lontong sayur has rice cakes, vegetables, bean curd, tempeh, and hard-boiled egg in a coconut curry soup. It's served with a dash of sambal.

Lor mee
- Where it's from: China and Southeast Asia
- What it is: A thick yellow noodle dish. It's topped with meat, seafood, fried fritters, and hard-boiled egg. It's served in a thick starchy gravy with vinegar, chili, and garlic.

Malakoff
- Where it's from: Switzerland
- What it is: Fried cheese balls or sticks.

Malatang
- Where it's from: China
- What it is: Various foods cooked in a hot pot of spicy soup. The ingredients are on skewers that the customer chooses.

Mango Sticky Rice
- Where it's from: Thailand
- What it is: A dessert of glutinous rice paired with slices of fresh mango. It's drizzled with coconut milk.

Maruya
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: Saba bananas cut into thin slices. They are coated with batter, deep-fried, and then sprinkled with sugar.

Masala puri
- Where it's from: India
- What it is: A type of chaat made with crushed puri (a type of fried bread) mixed with peas and masala (various spices).

Meat patty
- Where it's from: Jamaica
- What it is: A pastry that has different fillings and spices baked inside a flaky shell.

Meat pie
- Where it's from: Australia and New Zealand
- What it is: A hand-sized meat pie with diced or minced meat and gravy. Sometimes it has onion, mushrooms, or cheese. It's often eaten as a takeaway snack.

Medu vada
- Where it's from: Southern India and Sri Lanka
- What it is: A fritter made from deep-fried urad dal (black lentil) batter. It's usually shaped like a doughnut, with a crispy outside and soft inside.

Mee rebus
- Where it's from: Malaysia and Southeast Asia
- What it is: A dish of boiled yellow noodles. It's covered in a thick starchy gravy and topped with hard-boiled egg, tau-pok (tofu puffs), fried onions, and green chilis.

Mee siam
- Where it's from: Malaysia and Singapore
- What it is: A rice vermicelli dish stir-fried and topped with bean sprouts, tau-pok (tofu puffs), scallions, hard-boiled egg, and lime wedges. The "wet" version is served with a sweet and sour gravy.

Mie ayam
- Where it's from: Indonesia (Chinese Indonesian)
- What it is: Chicken noodles made of seasoned yellow wheat noodles. They are topped with seasoned diced chicken meat (ayam). It's a popular street food in Indonesia, sold by traveling food carts.

Mohinga
- Where it's from: Myanmar
- What it is: A hot and sour soup made with catfish and rice noodles. It's often eaten for breakfast and is considered a national dish of Myanmar.

Momo (food)
- Where it's from: Nepal, Bhutan, Northeast and Northern India
- What it is: A hot dumpling from the Himalayas. It can be steamed or fried and is often eaten with garlic chutney.

Murtabak
- Where it's from: Middle East, South/Southeast Asia
- What it is: A stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread. It's made from minced meat (beef or chicken, sometimes mutton) with garlic, egg, and onion. It's eaten with curry or gravy.

Mustamakkara
- Where it's from: Tampere region, Finland
- What it is: Finnish blood sausage. It's traditionally eaten with lingonberry jam. It's usually bought and eaten fresh at market stalls.

Nasi goreng
- Where it's from: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore
- What it is: Indonesian fried rice with a fragrant, earthy, and smoky flavor from caramelized sweet soy sauce and powdered shrimp paste. It's sold by street vendors, in warungs, and by traveling night hawkers with their carts.

Nasi lemak
- Where it's from: Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia
- What it is: Rice cooked in coconut milk and wrapped in a banana leaf. It comes with sambal and toppings like toasted peanuts and egg. It's similar to the Indonesian Nasi Uduk and the Bruneian Nasi Katok.

Obwarzanek krakowski
- Where it's from: Poland
- What it is: A braided, ring-shaped bread. It's boiled and sprinkled with salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, etc., before being baked.

Oden
- Where it's from: Japan
- What it is: A hot pot dish with daikon radish, boiled eggs, konjac, fish pastes, and fried tofu fritters in a dashi soup base. It's sold by food carts, convenience stores, and izakayas.

Pad Thai
- Where it's from: Thailand
- What it is: Rice noodles stir-fried with eggs and chopped tofu. It's flavored with tamarind pulp, fish sauce (nampla), dried shrimp, garlic or shallots, red chili pepper, and palm sugar. It's served with lime wedges and often chopped roast peanuts.

Pandan cake
- Where it's from: Singapore and Malaysia
- What it is: A light, fluffy sponge cake flavored with pandan extract. It's a mix of European cake-making with local ingredients.

Panelle
- Where it's from: Sicily, Italy
- What it is: A chickpea fritter. A patty made with gram flour is deep-fried. It's usually served as a sandwich, sometimes with a side of crocchè (mashed potatoes and egg, covered in bread crumbs and fried).

Pani ca meusa
- Where it's from: Sicily, Italy
- What it is: Chopped veal spleen and lungs. They are boiled and then fried in lard. It's served on a soft bread called vastedda.

Panini
- Where it's from: Italy and France
- What it is: A sandwich with various ingredients on a bread roll. It's heated on a press or contact grill.

Panipuri
- Where it's from: India
- What it is: A round, hollow puri (a type of bread). It's fried until crisp and filled with flavored water (pani), tamarind chutney, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion, and chickpeas.

Panucho
- Where it's from: Mexico (Yucatán)
- What it is: A corn tortilla filled with black bean paste and refried. Then it's topped with turkey or chicken, lettuce, avocado, and pickles.

Panzerotti
- Where it's from: Italy
- What it is: A fried turnover filled with mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and other pizza ingredients.

Papri chaat
- Where it's from: Northern India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan
- What it is: Traditionally made with crisp fried dough wafers called papri. It also has boiled chickpeas, boiled potatoes, yogurt, and tamarind chutney. It's topped with chaat masala and sev.

Pasty
- Where it's from: United Kingdom
- What it is: Meat and vegetables baked inside shortcrust pastry dough. Pasties are especially linked to Cornwall in England.

Pav Bhaji
- Where it's from: Maharashtra, India
- What it is: A thick vegetable curry (bhaji) served with a soft bread roll (pav).

Pecel Lele
- Where it's from: Indonesia (Javanese)
- What it is: Deep-fried catfish served with traditional sambal chili paste. It's often served with fried tempeh and steamed rice. It's usually sold in humble tent warungs by the street.

Pempek
- Where it's from: Indonesia (Palembang)
- What it is: A savory fishcake from Palembang, Indonesia. It's made from a mix of fish and tapioca dough. Pempek is served with yellow noodles and a dark, rich sweet and sour sauce called kuah cuka (vinegar sauce).

Pepito
- Where it's from: Venezuela
- What it is: A sandwich similar to a torta. It has beef or sometimes chicken on a bun or baguette, with sauces and toppings chosen by the buyer.

Peremech
- Where it's from: Russia (Tatarstan, Bashkortostan)
- What it is: A deep-fried pastry with meat filling. In Russia, it's known as a belyash.

Pho
- Where it's from: Vietnam
- What it is: A noodle soup with broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat.

Picarones
- Where it's from: Peru
- What it is: Its main ingredients are squash and sweet potato. It's shaped like a doughnut and covered with syrup made from chancaca (solidified molasses). It's traditional to serve picarones when people make anticuchos, another Peruvian dish.

Pilaf
- Where it's from: Central Asia, Middle East, South Asia
- What it is: Rice cooked in a seasoned broth. Various other ingredients are sometimes added. Mussels filled with rice are a common street food in Istanbul, Turkey.

Popiah
- Where it's from: China and Southeast Asia
- What it is: A spring roll with a thin, crepe-like wrapper made from wheat flour. It's filled with shredded yam bean, omelette, carrots, lettuce, and bean sprouts.

Pirozhki
- Where it's from: Russia, Ukraine
- What it is: Small, individual-sized baked or fried buns. They are stuffed with a variety of fillings.

Pizza
- Where it's from: Italy, and other places in Europe and North America
- What it is: A thinly rolled bread dough crust. It's topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients like small pieces of meat and vegetables. It's baked in an oven.

Pizza al taglio
- Where it's from: Italy
- What it is: Pizza baked in large rectangular trays. It's cut into rectangular slices and sold by weight.

Pizzetta
- Where it's from: Italy
- What it is: A small pizza. It can be as small as a finger food (about three inches wide) or a small personal-sized pizza.

Plăcintă
- Where it's from: Romania and Moldova
- What it is: A traditional pastry that looks like a thin, small round or square cake. It's usually filled with a soft cheese like Urdă or apples.

Pljeskavica
- Where it's from: Serbia
- What it is: A grilled dish of spiced meat patty. It's a mix of pork, beef, and lamb.

Poisson cru
- Where it's from: French Polynesia
- What it is: Raw tuna or other fish, marinated in lime or lemon juice. It's mixed with vegetables like cucumber, tomato, and scallion, with coconut milk poured over it. Poisson cru means "raw fish." It's also known as ʻota ʻika.

Porilainen
- Where it's from: Finland
- What it is: A hamburger-like sandwich. It's made from white bread and a thick slice of baloney-like sausage. It has diced sweet onion, chopped pickled cucumber, ketchup, and mustard.

Poutine
- Where it's from: Canada (Quebec)
- What it is: French fries and cheese curds topped with a light brown gravy.

Pretzel
- Where it's from: Europe
- What it is: A baked bread product made from dough. It's most commonly shaped into a twisted knot.

Proben
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: The proventriculus (part of a chicken's digestive system). It's breaded with corn starch and deep-fried. It's served in a small bag with vinegar, or on bamboo sticks to be dipped in vinegar. Sometimes it's served with puso rice dumplings.

Punugulu
- Where it's from: India (Coastal Andhra)
- What it is: A deep-fried snack made with rice, urad dal, and other spices.

Pupusa
- Where it's from: El Salvador
- What it is: Thick corn tortillas stuffed with various fillings. These include pork, chicken, refried beans, and/or cheese. They are often served with curtido, a lightly fermented cabbage relish.

Quail eggs
- Where it's from: Asia, Europe, North America
- What it is: The eggs of a quail. They are prepared in many ways in different places. In some countries, they are sold as street food. For example, in the Philippines, kwek kwek are hard-boiled quail eggs covered with orange batter and deep-fried.

Quesadilla
- Where it's from: Mexico
- What it is: A tortilla filled with cheese (and sometimes other ingredients) and grilled.

Ramen
- Where it's from: Japan
- What it is: Wheat noodles served in a soy sauce and miso broth with various toppings. Every region in Japan has its own version of this dish.

Ražnjići
- Where it's from: Serbia
- What it is: Pieces of marinated pork or other meat, grilled on skewers.

Rellenitos de Plátano
- Where it's from: Guatemala
- What it is: Egg-shaped balls of cooked, mashed plantains. They are stuffed with a mix of refried black beans, chocolate, and cinnamon. They are deep-fried and served with powdered sugar or honey.

Roasted cockles
- Where it's from: Cambodia
- What it is: Cockles that are roasted and then served with olive oil and seasonings.

Rojak
- Where it's from: Indonesia (Javanese), Malaysia, and Singapore
- What it is: A salad made with a mix of fruits, vegetables, and savory spices. It's drizzled with a prawn paste and peanut sauce.

Rojak Indian
- Where it's from: Singapore and Malaysia
- What it is: Indian Rojak or Mamak Rojak is different from the fruit and vegetable version. It's a mix of fritters, potatoes, tofu, tempeh, and hard-boiled eggs. It's topped with cucumbers, onions, and green chilis and served with a spicy peanut gravy.

Roti
- Where it's from: South Asia and other places
- What it is: An unleavened flatbread made with atta (a finely-ground whole wheat flour). When making roti (sometimes called chapati), the dough is heated on a flat griddle.

Roti Canai
- Where it's from: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and Thailand
- What it is: Dough that is kneaded, flattened, and grilled to a crispy-chewy texture. It can have optional toppings like egg. It's usually served with a dhal curry dip. It's also known as Roti prata (Singapore) or Roti thitchu (Thailand).

Roti John
- Where it's from: Singapore and Malaysia
- What it is: A baguette that is cut in half and fried with a topping mix of egg, minced meat, and onions. It's served with cucumbers, chili or tomato sauce, and mayonnaise.

Roujiamo
- Where it's from: China
- What it is: A sandwich of chopped meat, traditionally braised pork. The pork is stewed in a soup with many spices and served on a bun. It started in Shaanxi Province.

Rustico
- Where it's from: Italy
- What it is: Mozzarella cheese, chopped tomatoes, and béchamel sauce. These are placed between two round pieces of puff pastry and baked. Rustico started in the Salento region of Italy.

Sabich
- Where it's from: Israel
- What it is: Pita bread stuffed with fried eggplant and hard-boiled eggs. It comes with salad and sauces like tahini, hummus, and mango chutney.

Sabudana vada
- Where it's from: Maharashtra, India
- What it is: A deep-fried fritter made from sabudana (small balls of tapioca) and potatoes. It's flavored with peanuts, coriander, and chili powder.

Samosa
- Where it's from: India, Pakistan
- What it is: A deep-fried triangular turnover filled with vegetables (especially potatoes) or meat.

Sardenara
- Where it's from: Italy (Liguria)
- What it is: Dough covered with tomato sauce and topped with anchovies, black olives, onions, and garlic. It's baked in an oven. Sardenara is similar to focaccia or pizza.

Satay
- Where it's from: Indonesia and South/Southeast Asia
- What it is: A dish of seasoned, skewered, and grilled meat. It's usually served in peanut sauce. It's a popular street food across Southeast Asia, from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Pork satay is popular in Thailand.

Sausage roll
- Where it's from: United Kingdom
- What it is: Pork sausage meat wrapped in glazed puff pastry and baked.

Scaccia
- Where it's from: Sicily, Italy
- What it is: A type of tomato and cheese pie. Very thin pizza dough is covered with tomato sauce and grated cheese, folded many times, and baked.

Scallion pancake
- Where it's from: China
- What it is: Pancakes made with soft dough and scallions (green onions). They are cooked by being fried in oil.

Seblak
- Where it's from: Indonesia (Sundanese)
- What it is: A savory and spicy dish made of wet krupuk (traditional Indonesian crackers). It's cooked with protein (egg, chicken, seafood, or beef) in a spicy sauce.

Sev puri
- Where it's from: India
- What it is: A type of chaat (a savory snack). It's made with puri (a deep-fried bread), potatoes, onions, several types of chutney, and sev (small pieces of crunchy noodles made from chickpea flour).

Sfenj
- Where it's from: Morocco and other parts of the Maghreb
- What it is: A deep-fried food similar to a doughnut. It's made with sticky, unsweetened dough and usually sprinkled with powdered sugar. Traditionally, it's eaten for breakfast or at tea time.

Sfincione
- Where it's from: Sicily, Italy
- What it is: A type of pizza with a thick, soft crust. It's topped with tomato sauce, onions, caciocavallo cheese, and anchovies.

Shaokao
- Where it's from: China
- What it is: Heavily spiced, barbecued foods on skewers.

Shashlik
- Where it's from: Eastern and Central Europe, Central and Western Asia
- What it is: Pieces of marinated lamb or other meat, grilled on skewers.

Shawarma
- Where it's from: Middle East
- What it is: Meat (usually lamb and/or veal, or chicken) cooked on a vertical rotisserie. It's served in pita or a similar bread wrap, or on a plate, often with tahini sauce and other toppings.

Siomay
- Where it's from: Indonesia (Chinese Indonesian)
- What it is: A steamed fish dumpling with vegetables served in peanut sauce. It comes from Chinese Shumai and is considered a light meal, similar to Chinese dim sum. It's a popular street food, sold by cart or bicycle food vendors.

Smažený sýr
- Where it's from: Czech Republic
- What it is: A slice of cheese (usually Edam, but can be Hermelín) about 1.5 cm thick. It's breaded with flour, egg, and bread crumbs, then fried in a pan or deep-fat fryer. It's often served with a side salad, potatoes (fries or boiled), and typically tartar sauce. It can also be a sandwich in a hamburger bun.

Soon kueh
- Where it's from: China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia
- What it is: A steamed dumpling in Teochew cuisine. It's filled with yam bean, bamboo shoots, and dried shrimps. It's wrapped in a white skin made of rice/tapioca flour.

Soto
- Where it's from: Indonesia
- What it is: A spicy soup of meat and vegetables. Many different versions exist.

Souvlaki
- Where it's from: Greece
- What it is: Small pieces of meat, usually pork, grilled on a skewer. It's served in a pita wrap or on a plate.

Stigghiola
- Where it's from: Sicily, Italy
- What it is: The intestines of a sheep or goat. They are put on a skewer, flavored with parsley and onions, and cooked on an open grill. It's one of the most common street foods in Palermo, Sicily.

Supplì
- Where it's from: Italy
- What it is: Italian snacks. They are balls of rice (usually risotto) with tomato sauce and raw egg. They are common in Roman cuisine.

Taco
- Where it's from: Mexico
- What it is: A corn or flour tortilla with any of various fillings.

Tacos al pastor
- Where it's from: Mexico (Mexico City)
- What it is: A dish from Central Mexico. It probably came from the shawarma spit-grilled meat brought by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico. Since it's from shawarma, it's also similar to the Turkish döner kebab and the Greek gyros.

Tahri
- Where it's from: India (Awadhi cuisine)
- What it is: Basmati rice and potatoes, flavored with turmeric and other spices. It's a type of vegetarian biryani.

Tahu gejrot
- Where it's from: Indonesia
- What it is: A spicy tofu dish from Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia. Tahu gejrot has tahu pong, a type of hollow fried tofu, cut into small pieces. It's served with a thin, watery dressing made by blending palm sugar, vinegar, and sweet soy sauce.

Tahu goreng
- Where it's from: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore
- What it is: A deep-fried, golden-brown tofu dish. It's served with bean sprouts, carrots, and shredded cucumbers. It can be drizzled with a thick sweet and spicy sauce made from shrimp paste, ground peanuts, and chili. Tahu telur is an Indonesian version where tofu and eggs are cooked into an omelette before adding toppings.

Tahu sumedang
- Where it's from: Indonesia
- What it is: A deep-fried tofu from Sumedang, West Java.

Taiyaki
- Where it's from: Japan
- What it is: A Japanese baked pastry shaped like a fish. It's filled with sweetened azuki beans or other savory fillings.

Tajada
- Where it's from: Central America
- What it is: A dish of fried plantains, sliced lengthwise, in the Caribbean and Central America.

Tajine
- Where it's from: North Africa
- What it is: A slow-cooked, savory stew. It's made with meat, poultry, or fish along with vegetables, fruit, and/or nuts. It's cooked in a large clay pot.

Takoyaki
- Where it's from: Japan
- What it is: A ball-shaped snack made from wheat flour batter. It's cooked in a special molded pan. It's usually filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion.

Tamale
- Where it's from: Mesoamerica
- What it is: Masa (a corn-based dough made from hominy), mixed with savory ingredients and spices. It's steamed in a corn husk. The husk is thrown away before eating.

Tangbao
- Where it's from: China
- What it is: A large dumpling filled with chicken broth and pork.

Taquito
- Where it's from: Mexico
- What it is: A corn tortilla wrapped around various fillings and then fried. Taquito means "little taco."

Tauge goreng
- Where it's from: Indonesia
- What it is: A savory vegetarian dish. It's made of stir-fried tauge (bean sprouts) with slices of tofu, ketupat or lontong rice cake, and yellow noodles. It's served in a spicy oncom-based sauce.

Tlayuda
- Where it's from: Mexico (Oaxaca)
- What it is: A very large, dense corn tortilla. It has refried beans, asiento (rendered lard), and Oaxaca cheese, some kind of meat like pork or chicken, and various toppings, often including salsa and guacamole. It's served flat or folded in half.

Tokneneng
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: Hard-boiled chicken eggs covered with an orange-colored batter and deep-fried.

Torta
- Where it's from: Mexico
- What it is: A large sandwich with various meat fillings and other tasty ingredients. It's served on a telera or similar bread. It's often eaten at lunchtime and is a common street food in Mexico City, Mexico.

Trdelník
- Where it's from: Czech Republic and Slovakia
- What it is: A pastry made by wrapping dough around a stick. It's roasted over an open flame, then sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Sometimes it has extra toppings.

Tteokbokki
- Where it's from: South Korea
- What it is: Small, cylindrical rice cakes covered in a spicy sauce.

Ttongppang
- Where it's from: South Korea
- What it is: A pastry shaped like human feces. It's filled with red bean paste and walnut kernel.

Turnip cake
- Where it's from: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia
- What it is: A standard Cantonese dim sum dish. It's made from a batter of grated turnip, rice flour, mushroom, and shrimp. It's stir-fried and then steamed. It's often served with hot chili oil or oyster sauce.

Turon
- Where it's from: Philippines
- What it is: A type of banana fritter. Sliced saba bananas, and sometimes other fruit slices, are put into a spring roll wrapper, rolled in sugar, and deep-fried.

Vada pav
- Where it's from: Mumbai, India
- What it is: A vegetarian sandwich. It has a deep-fried potato patty on a bun, topped with coriander and other spices.

Yaki-imo
- Where it's from: Japan
- What it is: Baked or roasted Japanese sweet potatoes (satsuma-imo). They are sold by street vendors and convenience stores.

Yakisoba
- Where it's from: Japan
- What it is: Wheat noodles, grilled with ingredients like vegetables and chicken or pork. They are coated with a slightly sweet, savory sauce. It's often served on a plate or in a bowl. Sometimes it's called yakisoba-pan and served in a bun, like a hot dog bun.

Vegetarian bee hoon
- Where it's from: Singapore
- What it is: A fried noodle dish with vegetarian spring rolls, fried tofu skin, and mock meats made from gluten.

Youtiao
- Where it's from: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia
- What it is: A dough stick made from wheat flour. It's often eaten with congee (rice porridge) or soy milk in many Asian countries.

Zapiekanka
- Where it's from: Poland
- What it is: An open-face sandwich. It's made from half a baguette or other long roll, topped with sautéed white mushrooms, cheese, and sometimes other ingredients. It's toasted until the cheese melts and served with ketchup.

Zongzi
- Where it's from: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia
- What it is: A traditional Chinese glutinous rice dish. It's stuffed with various fillings and wrapped into a pyramid shape with bamboo leaves.