Follow your Nose: Tips on Finding Food in Foreign Countries

A recording of the presentation. Otherwise the entire script is below with the photos

Hi all! My name is Winston Chiang and I have made an obsession with eating broadly as a goal to explore the cultures of the world.

I’m a Long Island raised Brooklynite. I’ve seen around 16 countries and about 80 cities all told. I’ve done lots of East and South East Asia, some of Central America and Europe, and a smattering of the US. There’s large gaps left in my world map, but I look forward to finding those parts as well.

I find success in raising my friends up and putting in work to create something I can be proud of while giving back to my community. In my spare time, I enjoy writing, reading, performing poetry, yoga, swimming, triathlons, hosting events, activism, cooking, and generally approaching all things with a sense of wonder and curiosity.

Inspired by the likes of Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmerman, and buoyed by the fearless gut and gusto of a first gen Chinese-American, my exact favorite experience is to be fed by a local grandmother; something unexpected, something simple and filling, made with love.

That journey has led me to some outstanding experiences and I’ve used those to inform a set of guidelines to approaching food in other countries.

But before we get to eating abroad we have to ask about eating locally. In your neighborhood you can find a lot of great food from all over. Restaurants are often the dreams of a lot of immigrants and small business owners and it’s important to support them. I love that popeyes chicken sandwich, but I’ll make a point to eat at the local Yemen place with the free cardamon tea and outstanding lamb and white bean foul.

Or my local pizza place. Table 87 in Brooklyn, Ask for Rose, she’ll be your sweet and strong Italian grandmother.

If you know your neighborhood you can make impact and practice your food finding skills. When you’re actually looking to fill your mouth, your gut, your eyes, your nose will be the ultimate decider. Paying attention to how you eat, what you eat, and where you’ll eating will train your senses to be better at picking out good food.

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Okay I have a riddle. The entire world, who cooks hands down the best plate of food?

No. My mom. Not your moms. Not your yayas. My mom.

No haha. So okay I honed my nose from a very young age. She cooked food like no-ones business. I swear no one is going to make a chive and pork dumpling like my mom. Or a scallion pancake, crispy edges, soft chew. Oh but you don’t even know the magic she can do with tomatoes, eggs, flour and water. Just ‘chef kiss’. I love her.

For me, the true answer to the question is, it’s going to be someone’s mother. Someone’s grandparent who puts a bowl in front of you, in their home country, that’s is going to be absolutely the best meal you can get. It represents the ultimate form of acceptance and hospitality in a foreign country.

How do we get as close as possible to grandma’s house?

The most obvious tip is the best one.

Eat locally. It requires getting out of the town, generally. Finding a neighborhood spot can be risky, think about trying to find a good restaurant around your block. Some will be fantastic, some are just meh.

I want to share a story. I am in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. I’m way out in neighborhoods, miles, excuse me, kilometers away from the city center. I spy that familiar red Denny’s-like roof, on top of a conveyor sushi chain, surrounded by a parking lot, on the side of the street. There are a few parked cars. It is late afternoon, during working hours, so it is pretty slow. So far not great signs. Chain restaurant-like feel. Few customers. But I’m way out in the residential area. The kicker is that Japan is expensive. So, the 100-yen sticker price, about a dollar a plate, drew me in. Plus, I was starving.

I had spent the day borrowing a free pedal biking from the hostel and adventuring through the city and an amazing Shrine. Enormous trees, decorated and enshrined, surrounding by the chattering ravens; enormous fearless black birds. I was feeling great; and meals are as much a mindset as an experience.

When I entered the restaurant, I was greeted with a sing song hello and the rapid polite efficiency of all the service in Japan. I was in awe. Single serving packets of wasabi and salt and soy. The matcha powder and hot water spouts at each seat to make your own green tea.

I enjoy the songs that played when your order arrived, a tiny basket crown on an electronic train, color coordinated to your table, zipping around the conveyor belt.

I savored every bite of the tempura shrimp, obscenely sweet against light, crisp, hot batter. I chewed through the profound experience of herring eggs; spicy, chewy, crunchy. It felt like a combination of cartilage and tiny roe. There was fatty toro that melted in your mouth. Salmon that was all at once, powerfully oily, flame charred, and clean. Shiso is like a mixture of basil and mint, herbaceous. It made a marvelous throne for raw, sweet, and snappy Ika [squid].

All of this atop the clean vinegar tang of delicious sushi rice. Much like how any high-class Italian dish is judged on the pasta, so is sushi judge on the quality of rice. It should just barely stick together, not to dense, not too dry. It should be perfectly cooked through, rinsed of most of the starch. Each granule uniform in texture and size. The flavor should be mild but distinct. Mirin, Vinegar, Sugar, Salt. All in balance.

The food was so good I ended up having a minor anxiety attack.

I found my peak. It barely cost 7$. No tipping.

In the middle of this Denny’s I buried my head into my arms right on the counter where the conveyor was buzzing. What on earth was going on? 3 days in to a year-long trip and this was the best meal I had ever had. On top of the best meals I had even had just getting here.

Could I even top today’s adventures? What would I do tomorrow that could beat this?

Fear struck me paralyzed. Would I be sick of traveling soon? Would all the wonderment simply blur and mesh into the average state of boredom that had gotten me out of New York to begin with?

I brushed away the anxiety with a simple “Who cares??”

I ate slower, the flavor of each piece was exquisite, even when I had no frame of reference. Around me, pairs and singles of all ages popped in and out.

The conveyor belt continued to spin. Someone had ordered a strawberry ice cream sundae, topped with two pocki. Brightly standing out against the fish and rice and seaweed. It was destined for a sweet tooth down the bar, and merrily marched its way down.

When I was finished, I bade goodbye to the staff with bows and English, cheery smiles and enthusiastic waving. <¥800!

I danced and spun my way to the bike rack laughing outright at the joy.

All wonder. All amazement. All love.

Thanks. I hope you enjoyed that story. [Read the full story here]

So, after a year of wandering around and really focusing on getting good meals I do have plenty of more actionable tips.

Smells. Actually following your nose and eyes. Happy Cow. I use Google Map reviews cuz everyone uses google maps. Or follow food blogs. Michelin guide books can actually be good or out of date, I’ve had both experiences. Locals of course. The hostel staff. Fellow travelers. I also have name dropped Bourdain who works really well among travelers and have had strangers, new friends introduce me to excellent food.

Fruit. Always try the fruit. You’ll always find someone selling fruit from a stand or a wheelbarrow. This is always worth it. Don’t worry if you have no idea how to eat it, ask openly. The fruit is going to be fresh, delicious, and a completely different experience than getting it from Whole Foods. As always though, you use eyes. Use your nose. Don’t take the moldy one.

On that note, cooking in foreign countries is super fun. Now I know plenty of people who have bought jars of pesto, bags of dried pasta and called it a day. That’s fine. But much like the fruit, going to a local store, using local ingredients is going to taste better and teach you more.

As a traveler cooking is an extremely useful skill. Cooking a meal for a Couchsurfing host is a surefire way to get a good review. Similarly, meeting your fellow travelers by cooking dinner or doing a potluck will win you fast friends. Plus, there is really little better than having many people share many labors to bring food together across cultures.

Plenty of hostels have kitchens and cooking with local ingredients is often cheaper, healthier and allows you to really experience local produce and food.

Browsing the supermarket is fun and a great way to learn culture. Because the people who live there go to markets, you’ll see a completely different slice of life, both familiar and extremely different. Plus, the beer is cheaper.

I have a fun story about Dali, a little hippie town in China. Now. The CCP does not love hippies, so this is a very unique place. I spend my first night on the cobblestone floor, drinking beers and singing songs with a small group of buskers. By 2am we have gathered a group of two dozen, sprawled on the floor until the police corral us away.

In the hostel I met a divorced Chinese glass manufacturer, a retired wealthy Korean entrepreneur. Indonesian Coffee importer. The hostel holds exchange students, day traders, a French special forces discharge named Arthur who was 25 years old, lived in Cambodia, biked to Dali to hike the mountain ranges and spoke some 10-odd languages in some capacity. We come together for many meals, tea, coffee, and discussions over a frankly crazy span of experiences. One night I make a steamed fish, freshly killed from the market and doused in soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and scallions. Just like my mom used to make.

Another night, the Southern Chinese man makes a “work mans stew” of pork, mushrooms, and rice. I make sauteed morning glory. The French man brings blueberries.

There was true magic in that city and it felt good to be a part of that table. [Read the full day here]

Sometimes great meals will come from nowhere. Be open to that.

One time in Sendai, I’m walking around. Early afternoon. I am reasonably full but I would love coffee. I’m crossing a modern city sidewalk.

Out of nowhere, a chef comes running out of his shop and invites me to lunch. I ask for coffee, which he says he’ll provide after lunch, and I decline. Not in the mood.

I make it a whole 200 meters before turning around. If a chef runs out to invite you to eat in his place in Japan, you respect the chef. I end up having a obscenely good meal, very traditional Japanese tempura by an Japanese born, LA trained chef named Honda. He ends up showing me his antique Samurai rice wine box and his mother gifts me tiny origami kimonos. I wrote a google review that went tiny viral in Sendai, and we occasionally still swap emails. [Read the full experience here]

As good as my experiences were, you’re going to have bad meals. I had a cashew fried rice in Vietnam that was literally fried rice and a side of cashews. It was a full tourist place with big, generalized pictures of the food. I should have known. An overabundance on price specials, especially for drinks in buckets. Anyplace that is selling you drinks in buckets might be very fun to play, but probably eat at the food cart parked outside, old grandma grilling something delicious for a few bucks. Which is how I got the grilled duck later to sated my stomach.

In general, the more touristic the strip is, the worst the food. You’ll get a feel for a place with expensive décor but no taste. Or inauthentic photos of generic food. Notice the people around you. Are they partying teenagers? Or gentle retired couples where the cruise ship has docked for the day? Probably keep it moving.

Ice cream. This is a good tip. If you feel like it, always go for ice cream. Cheap, expensive, whatever. Have coffee and ice cream everywhere. You’ll just be happier.

Ask. In Thailand I smelled the hostel’s local staff cooking on an open fire. I walk by and politely gesture at the pot. They’re frying grasshoppers. Now I’ve had some bugs, not really my favorite thing. But they offer politely and who am I to say no? Actually. Amazing. They were crunchy but light with a flavor more like wheat than anything else. The workers smile as I chomp down three or four as we share a shot of rice wine. The bugs were caught in the fields by their own hands and makes a radical difference in flavor and texture.

I’ve worked in a couple kitchens in my life, so I also found that a good way to float a couple meals while abroad. Prep, service, bar. In plenty of places, speaking English and being helpful is enough of a resume. If they’re willing to have short term hands, especially to host or wait tables.

Fast food and processed snacks are another interesting avenue to explore culture. The menu’s and aisles often reflect the countries they are in. Regional or national chains can also be really good and very different; built in a market that is nothing like your home. As long as you aren’t eating more than a few times a week; I think it’s even worthwhile to try unhealthy snacks and “junk food” in another country. This doesn’t apply nearly as well in North America; where McD’s and BK are akin to trash from coast to coast.

All of this is to say, walking around is going to be your friend. Use that time to engage your senses, smell and taste of course. Sight and sound. But also ask. Poke your nose into different restaurants. Anything that catches your eye. Food is like any art form, there’s a lot of subjectivity into what makes a good meal but authenticity and intention are the most prevalent. You can’t force or fake great food. But a willingness to explore and try something different will do a lot.

Winston’s tips for eating abroad.

Eat local. Get outside the touristic parts of anywhere and eat where others are having lunch, dinner, breakfast, or coffee.

Eat street food. The grandma slinging tacos or dumplings from a cart generally knows what she’s doing. Especially if it’s a local cart.

Use fellow travelers, talk about what foods you love and where they have eaten. Blogs and reviews can be helpful too. Happy Cow is great for Vegans. Google Maps is often good too.

Eat fresh fruit. Plenty of fruit stands will sell sliced mango or cracked coconuts.

Eat fresh produce. Shopping and cooking from a local market will really engage you to the local fairs. And sharing cooked meals to couchsurfing hosts, friends, strangers, other travelers can yield exceptional results, where that’s potluck meals or invitations or simply breaking bread.

Don’t be afraid to try other cuisines. Sometimes you’ll be surprised at who does a faithful rendition or a fusion spinoff of another culture’s dish.

Fast food chains are delightful tastings if used sparingly. As are gas-station-7/11-convenience store snacks. Both can be regional and satisfying culturally and as a meal

If you’re really ambitious, work in a restaurant. A shift will earn you a meal most places, especially if you help with dishes afterwards. And nothing is close to the cooks throwing something together.

Ice cream and coffee. Always.

Be open to experiences from anywhere

Avoid big tourist traps. Anywhere where you are surrounded by foreigners.

Places that sell more drink specials than meals.

Dirty Bathrooms***

A general rule works that the cleaner the bathroom the better the food. That rule isn’t exclusive, you can have good food with dirty bathrooms and bad food with the cleanest toilet bowl. I also don’t want to discount dingy. A place might be cramped and unable to provide tiling. But the tidier the place, the better.

Last point! Most people advice against drinking tap water from other countries.

Now. Do your own research. If a place is clearly bad; jungles, farmlands, over industrialize, you’re best avoiding. But your probiotic system is pretty strong. And adaptable. It goes from hydrochloric acid to poop, it’s not invincible but it is tough.

I would recommend, whereever you go, to strengthen the immune system against possible stomach bugs by use some of the water. Don’t go drinking galleons, but brushing your teeth with tap. Sipping some in boiled tea. Generally some contact with the water is good for you. You might have a rumbling stomach for a day or two, but within the week, you’ll be well stronger for it.

This goes triple for your through-hikers out there. I know we probably carry chlorine and that’s one of the best, but also washing your face in the stream and rinsing your mouth with water is better than not.

Anyway. That’s all my tips. Thanks for reading and you can find the entire discussion on youtube at the link provided at the top.

Much Love,

Winston