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Roti canai is a traditional pan-fried flatbread made with flour, water, eggs, and fat of Indian origin, but mainly associated with Malaysia, and surrounding countries like Indonesia, Brunei, and Thailand. The dough for roti canai is repeatedly folded, so the final product has a layered texture, a soft interior, and a crispy outer layer.
The most common fat used in roti canai is ghee, the traditional Indian clarified butter. It is believed that the dish originated in India when the Indian laborers who migrated to Malaysia brought the recipe and the tradition of preparing this crispy pastry to the foreign country.
VARIATIONS OF Roti canai
MOST ICONIC Roti canai
View moreOne of the most famous snacks in Indonesia is batagor, a fried fish dumpling served in a traditional spicy sauce. It has roots in the Chinese culinary tradition, which has left a trace on many Indonesian dishes. Although this famous snack is reminiscent of the more famous Chinese dumpling, its distinguishable characteristic is that it is fried, not steamed.
The most common fish used to make the dish is wahoo, but tuna, mackerel, and even prawns can also be used. Potatoes, tofu, or cabbage are also occasionally added to the dish. Batagor is the perfect snack because of the way it is served. When fried, the dumplings are cut into small bite-sized pieces and covered in peanut, soy, and chili sauce with a splash of lime juice.
MOST ICONIC Batagor
View moreKaripap or curry puff is a small, deep-fried or baked pastry shell filled with thick chicken and potatoes curry. It is believed that the flavorful snack was invented by the Malays from the Malay Peninsula and parts of Sumatra and Borneo.
It is a popular breakfast item or an afternoon snack which can be found at numerous stores, bars, and markets. Because of its simplicity and flavor, karipap quickly became popular outside Malaysia, especially in Thailand and Singapore. Today there are numerous versions of karipap, so instead of potato and chicken curry, it can be filled with various other ingredients such as tuna, sardines, and beef rendang.
MOST ICONIC Karipap
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Fried bananas or plantains are a common everyday snack eaten throughout Indonesia. They come in numerous versions in which the fruit is simply fried in shallow oil, but more often sliced banana pieces are coated in batter before they are fried until golden.
Besides numerous other varieties, fried bananas also appear under different names such as godoh biu on Bali or gedhang gorèng on Java. They are traditionally sold at street stalls and carts and belong to a group of gorengan dishes—Indonesian deep-fried snacks.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Pempek is a traditional fish cake made with ground fish meat and tapioca. The actual origin of this dish is the city of Palembang, situated in the South Sumatra province. The origin story of pempek says that an old Palembang citizen was tired of the traditional fried or grilled fish, so he thought of an innovative way to ground the meat, mix it with tapioca flour, and deep-fry it to get a crunchy and delicious snack.
He then used to cycle through the city and sell the fish cakes to Palembang citizens. Over time, pempek was recognized as a praise-worthy snack, and today it is considered to be a traditional Indonesian delicacy. These round or rectangular cakes are usually steamed, and right before serving they are fried in vegetable oil and cut into bite-sized pieces.
MOST ICONIC Pempek
View moreThis small-sized Thai dessert, which is often referred to as a pancake, pudding, or a cake, is created with a batter that combines rice flour and coconut milk. The dessert is baked in large iron pans that have small, round indentations, and it is typically prepared in two stages—with a batter that is used as a crispy bottom layer, and a creamy, lightly sweetened coconut milk filling.
Typical additions to the custard-like filling include sliced scallions, taro, corn, or pumpkin. Khanom khrok is a staple street food in Thailand, typically enjoyed as a quick and filling snack that balances sweet and savory flavors extremely well.
Kripik are small chips from Indonesia, prepared in sweet and savory versions. They are made with fish, vegetables, or fruit, in some cases the exotic ones such as taro, breadfruit, jackfruit, and snake fruit. The chips are deep-fried in vegetable oil until crispy.
The most popular varieties include kripik singkong (cassava chips) and kripik pisang (banana chips). Kripik belongs to the group of krupuk, which are larger chips, while kripik is smaller, but has more variety in its ingredients, so almost any fruit, tuber, vegetable, or nut can be incorporated into kripik.
MOST ICONIC Kripik
View moreGorengan is a generic name that refers to a wide group of Indonesian deep-fried snacks that can be prepared with a variety of ingredients. Whether savory or sweet, the fritters usually combine egg batter with various additions such as bananas, tempeh, tofu, sweet potatoes, or jackfruit.
The ingredients can be finely sliced and incorporated into the batter or merely dipped before they are fried. Gorengan is one of the most common Indonesian street food items that is sold at numerous markets throughout the country. Although they come in a seemingly endless number of combinations, some of the most popular varieties include pisang goreng (bananas), ubi goreng (sweet potato), aci goreng (fried tapioca dough), tahu goreng (fried tofu), and singkong goreng (fried cassava).
VARIATIONS OF Gorengan
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Tempeh mendoan is a variety of fried tempeh that hails from Purwokerto. Thin slices of tempeh—fermented soybean product—are dipped in batter that is enriched with ground coriander, sliced scallions, and garlic before they are deep-fried.
This tempeh variety is only shortly fried, creating a crispy outer layer, while the tempeh remains soft and juicy. The name of the dish stems from Banyumasan language in which mendo roughly translates as half-cooked. This tempeh is best served with sambal, other types of chili-based dips, or kecap manis—Indonesian sweet soy sauce.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Lumpiang Shanghai is the most popular variety of lumpia, the crispy deep-fried Filipino snack that evolved from Chinese spring rolls. Even though lumpia appears in numerous variations, the Shanghai version is characterized by a savory filling which combines ground pork or beef with carrots, onions, various seasonings, and (occasionally) shrimps.
Lumpiang Shanghai is usually sold at numerous street stalls throughout the country, but it is also a staple dish served on special and festive occasions. This delicious and crispy snack is usually served accompanied by sweet and sour dipping sauce.
MOST ICONIC Lumpiang Shanghai
View moreTasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 100 Southeast Asian Snacks” list until March 21, 2025, 4,705 ratings were recorded, of which 3,176 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.