Let me introduce you to "onigiri" (rice balls), the most popular traditional Japanese food.
Onigiri is made by wrapping a tasty ingredient in boiled rice seasoned with salt, pressing the rice into a ball, and wrapping it with nori (sheets of dry seaweed). It is very cheap and easy to eat.
"Sushi" is another famous Japanese food using rice. This is made by seasoning rice with vinegar, pressing it into a finger-like shape, and topping it with seafood. It is rather expensive compared to onigiri, so people don't have it as often.
Onigiri comes in different shapes and sizes, but fist-sized triangular onigiri are most popular now.
Japanese people have loved onigiri as an accompanying food since the old days, and mostly used to make it at home. But now factory-made onigiri is available at convenience stores and supermarkets, so busy workers often buy it as an everyday lunch.
Typical ingredients in homemade onigiri include "tsukemono (pickles)" and "yakizakana (grilled fish)". The fillings in factory-made onigiri used to be very limited originally, but now boast a wide selection including some from abroad, such as kimchi (Korean pickles), sausages, etc. Seasoning is also much more varied nowadays, and includes not only salt, but also ketchup and curry. New types of onigiri appear every month.
More than twenty kinds of onigiri are available at convenience stores. So why not try some when you come to Japan?

Before wrapping with nori

After wrapping with nori

Traditionally, satay is served with Ketupat (rice cake) and raw salad of cucumber, pineapple and onions. Satay is always accompanied by delicious peanut sauce.

In Malaysia, satay is a popular traditional fast food dish, especially during celebration feast, such as Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali. We can easily find satay everywhere throughout the country, such as at road side stalls, hawker center, night markets and at the high-end restaurants. Malaysia's national carrier, Malaysian Airlines System also serves satay to its international destination flights as an appetizer. A close analog in Japan is yakitori. Shish kebab from Turkey and sosaties from South Africa are also similar to satay.

Satay generally consists of chunks or slices of meat on bamboo or coconut-leaf-spine skewers, grilled over a wood or charcoal fire. Turmeric is often used to marinate satay and gives it a characteristic yellow color.

Satay is traditionally a dinner dish, and it is sold at almost hawker stalls in Malaysia, where it is often sold in packed. However, there are restaurants which serve on a plate, making it possible for the dish to be treated as a delicacy.

Traditional fast food of a country characterizes a country and enables visitors to the country to remember the country for its local delicacy. Some examples would include the Ramley burger from Malaysia, the various kuehs from Vietnam etc. These are deemed as traditional fast food as they can be prepared quickly. The whole process of obtaining the food is very fast, thus the name 'fast food'. MacDonald's burgers are fast food but they are not traditional in the sense that they exist in almost every country so they are not characteristic of any country.

Such traditional fast food can be found in Singapore as well, and they are enjoyed by many Singaporeans. They are the local snacks which can be typically found in the night markets of Singapore. Though such food may not constitute a meal, they are local snacks which never fail to satisfy the food cravings of Singaporeans. One such snack would be the tu tu kueh of Singapore. It is a snack which is made of flour where the filling in it can be either peanuts or coconut. The texture of the tu tu kueh skin together with the coconut filling makes the snack delectable and irresistible. The snack is also reasonably priced, at about 5 pieces for $2. Another snack which is quite popular in the night markets would be the 'corn in a cup'. It is basically steamed corn mixed with butter and placed in a cup for consumption. The crunch which you get when you bite the corn is simply fantastic and it makes you want to eat more of it.

Corn in a cup

Otak is another snack in Singapore which is the favorite of most Singaporeans who like spicy food. It is made up of fish and chili (to make it spicy) etc. The unique part of it is that every piece is wrapped up in banana leaf and is barbequed till it is cooked. This snack is certainly popular among all races in Singapore and can be eaten with Nasi Lemak, which is rice with fish and egg wrapped up in banana leaf as well.

Otak-otak

The snacks mentioned above are uniquely Singapore as the way they are prepared are different from those in other countries where these snacks can be found as well. As such, if you have not tried these snacks in Singapore, do try to get hold of them in the night markets or food outlets in shopping centres where they may be sold!

Hong Kong is a gourmet's paradise with a wide variety of international cuisines. But you must not pass up the chance to try the unique flavor of the local delicacies available in the Chinese restaurants, hawkers stalls (street sellers), and tea houses (Tai Pai Tong) of Hong Kong. There is always something to satisfy every gastronome.

Hong Kong people live in a fast pace. There are alot of channels to provide fast food. Hawker food (Fast food) is surely one of the typical fast food that representing Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, many street vendors (called hawkers) provide varieties of inexpensive food along the street or at night markets to satisfy the taste bud of every patronage. If you want to challenge your taste buds by the genuine flavors of Hong Kong, Hawker food right outside the Mong Kok MTR (underground) station, Causeway Bay area, and along the Temple Street are strongly recommended.

The most popular items are:
"Yu Dan" (curry fishballs)
"Ngau Jap" (cow's internal organs such as intestine, pancreas, stomach and lungs)
"Chau Tau Fu" (smelly bean curd)
"Yeung Sam Bo" (Deep fried eggplants, chili with fish meat)
"Chui Pay Law Pak" (Pig's skin & carrot)
"Woon Tsa Chi" (Bowl of shark fins)
"Chui Hong" (Pig's blood)
"Gai daan jai " (Mini Egg)

Besides hawker food, a wide range of fast food are also available in tea houses, such as "Daan tart" (a baked egg custard) and "bor law yau" (sweet bread stuffed with a slice of melting butter inside). Having these with a cup of coffee or Yun Yan (a mix of milk tea and coffee) is a good way to start your day or for a relaxing tea time. It is nothing glamorous but really tasty, refreshing and truly Hong Kong. It is no exaggeration to say that the taste will stay in your mouth for a few days.

The above fast food could be found in many corners in Hong Kong, which is our town's delicacy. Apart from the above, and there are still many other local delicacies ready for you to explore.

This time I'd like to introduce Chinese Traditional food, moon cake. Moon cake has played a vital role in Moon Festival traditions. Once, according to Chinese legend, moon cake helped bring about a revolution.
The time was the Yuan dynasty (AD 1280-1368), established by the invading Mongolians from the north. The Mongolians subjugated the Han Chinese. According to one Chinese folk tale, a Han Chinese rebel leader named Liu Fu Tong devised a scheme to arouse the Han Chinese to rise up against the ruling Mongols to end the oppressive Yuan dynasty. He sought permission from Mongolian leaders to give gifts to friends as a symbolic gesture to honor the longevity of the Mongolian emperor. These gifts were round moon cakes. Inside, Liu had his followers place pieces of paper with the date the Han Chinese were to strike out in rebellion -- on the fifteenth night of the eighth month. Thus Liu got word to his people, who when they cut open the moon cakes found the revolutionary message and set out to overthrow the Mongols, thus ending the Yuan dynasty.
Today, far from the exotic and heroic legends, Chinese communities all over the world make and consume moon cakes during the traditional autumn Moon Festival.
The Moon Cake or Mid-Autumn Festival also commemorates the patriot Zhu Yuan Zhang, who plotted to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century, and is said to have passed his plans to his fellow rebels hidden in moon cakes. Hence today, these moon-shaped pastries with sweet fillings of red bean and lotus seed paste are exchanged as gifts.

Zongzi, or Chinese rice dumplings are a traditional food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. The shape of zongzi ranges from relatively tetrahedral to cylindrical. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. Wrapping a zongzi neatly needs a skill. Otherwise, the bamboo-wrapped rice dumplings will not have a good shape after cooked.

Zongzi is the traditional must-eat food for the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar calendar (approximately early- to mid-June), commemorating the death of Mr. Qu Yuan, a famous patriotic poet (ca. 340 BC - 278 BC). Besides, Zongzi sounds "pass" in Chinese assonance. With the coming of annual college entrance examination season, examinees usually eat zongzi in hopes of getting a pass to enrol their expected college.

Nowadays, zongzi has become another fast food, comparing to elaborate multi-course meals with cutlery. With different fillings, various fancy rice dumplings, the Cantonese-, Taiwanese-, and Shanghai-style as well as modern ones with western ingredients can target different types of customers, traditional, health-oriented, and high-end.

It's also quite convenient to purchase the ready-made zongzi from different places, i.e. restaurants, retail stores, hypermarkets, and street vendor. Old-time vendors sing or chant sales-pitches to quickly engage prospective customers while peddle zongzi in the streets. There is a Taiwanese folk song "Hot Zongzi" successfully describes this kind of zongzi vendors in the 1950's.

Regardless of zongzi rich symbolic meaning, bring a hearty appetite. Let's gulp it!

For Thai people, the most popular fast food is "Kwao Khaeng" consisted of rice and dishes, which its ingredients are from egg, curry and meat. Some people prefer the dishes topping on rice but some prefer separate plates.

For Thailand, there are four parts of Thai food.

1. Central part, Hindu food and Chinese food influenced to almost of Thai food that apply to mix and create with Thai composition (coconut milk or spices). There are several tastes as salt, sour, spicy and sweet mixed as yummy plate which known in Thai as "Tom Yum". It is the most famous dish through all over the world.

2. Northern part, the almost tastes are natural which mainly come from many kinds of vegetable or meat. Normally, local people will not cook the dish with sugar but a ferment bean is the most admirable composition for cooking. The "Khanom Jean Num-ngiew" is the most well known of this native one, consisted of white-long noodle and vegetables together with soup on top.

3. Northeast part, there are some special tastes come from natural composition such as preserved fish sauce (salty), chili, paprika and tamarind or hog plum (sour). The most famous dish of this part called "Somtum" (in Thai) with the ingredients of papaya, tomato, cowpea, peanut, dried shrimp, lemon, fish sauce and preserved fish sauce are mixed. You will see water-salad out from those mixes and could enjoy with sticky rice. This may known by foreigner as "Papaya salad" which is widespread and popular dish nowadays.

4. Southern part, the majority food is fish or sea animals having savory smell with spicy taste. They always spice with curcuma in their food for deodorizing. Most of finished dishes come out in yellow color from curry, fired fish and chicken. In other words, the traditional food of this area mixed of Thais and Muslims food together. A famous menu in Thai called "Tai Pla curry" having strong and hot taste. Besides, "Boodu" sauce (ferment small fishes with salt in the jar around 2-3 months or even a year will make much more salty and sweety taste) always put in their food also.

January 15 eat rice glue ball, "rice glue ball" conduct and action food, in our country also already a long time. In our generation, folks namely popular eat for a kind of Lantern Festival of unusual food. This kind of food, call at the earliest stage "floated a dollar son" behind call " rice glue ball", With refined sugar, rose, sesame, bean paste, yellow laurel, kernel of walnut, kernel, mashed dates etc. uses for the farcing glutinous rice powder wrap into circular, can the Hun be plain, each difference of taste. Can the soup cook, fry in oil, steam a food, there is reunited and happy idea.

Lantern Festival of mainly eat a food is a rice glue ball. The rice glue ball also calls "tang yuan", "circle son". It is said that that the rice glue ball symbolizes whole family reunited, eat a rice glue ball meaning for New Year, whole family happiness, all the luck.

The custom which eats a rice glue ball comes from when and where and the civil parlance is different. While say spring autumn don't the king of Chu Zhao reply country the way home in through Yangtze River see the thing float in river's noodles, color white but tiny Huang, inside is red like the Rang of rouge, the flavor is sweet. Public don't know this why thing, the Zhao king then sends a person to ask Confucius. The Confucius say: "This floats a Ping fruit also, get it the trillion of the main renew." Because this is greatly exactly a January the 15th, hereafter every time round this day, Zhao king life under charge the person makes copy this fruit with the noodles and counteract hawthorn make into a red farcing to cook but eat it. There is also a kind of parlance, the rice glue ball originally calls soup dollar, arrive the Han martial emperor, there is a maid-in-waiting in the temple call rice glue ball, do a soup dollar specialty very, from now on, people of this world with this maid-in-waiting of name to assign name to. These two legends disappear historical data jot down, the shortage is a letter.

As for Lantern Festival eat an at the earliest stage jot down of the rice glue ball to see at our generation Called rice glue ball as "floated a son", circle son", "lactose dollar son" with "sugar dollar" at that time. From [even continuous draft in the park] , [year old widely record] , [the big and clear unification endow with] the jot down of etc. Historical data see and rice glue ball conduct and actions spends joyfully the proper to the season food in Lantern Festival to start from the Sung Dynasty. Lantern Festival necessarily eats "circle son", so the people usage rice glue ball assigns name to it.