Srilankan hoppers and achcharu among the 50 tastiest street foods in Asia

Bubbling cauldrons of noodle soup, flaky flatbreads, kaleidoscopic desserts — when it comes to street food, Asia delivers big on variety and flavor.

This vast region sprawls across equatorial tropics and mountain ranges, volcanic islands and frenetic megacities, so it’s no surprise that diversity abounds.

Yet there are many similarities, too. With centuries of migration and trade, many recipes have traversed borders only to become a local specialty thousands of miles from their places of origin.

To celebrate the region’s bottomless culinary talent and passion for food, we’ve rounded up 50 must-try, much-loved street foods and beverages in Asia in alphabetical order.

Of course, this list is far from exhaustive — it’s just a small sampling of the region’s wonderful food traditions and where to find them.

While the Middle East and Central Asia are part of the Asian continent, we didn’t include these sub-regions because even by themselves there’s already such a broad depth of dishes to try,

01. Achcharu, Sri Lanka

Pickles get a Sri Lankan twist with achcharu — sweet, sour and spicy pickled fruits and vegetables that make a perfect street-food snack.

17. Hoppers, Sri Lanka

Seasoned with local spices, chili, turmeric, sugar and salt, the offerings will differ depending on the region and seasons — it might be Ceylon olives (veralu), wood apple, pineapple, ambarella, mango, jackfruit or eggplant.

Wake up and smell the appa (also called aapa or appam) in Sri Lanka!

Thought to have originated over in southern India 2,000 years ago, appa, or hoppers, are made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk batter cooked like a crêpe in a small wok.

This method creates a bowl-like shape that’s slightly thicker and spongier at the bottom while staying crispy on the edges.

Plain hoppers and egg hoppers (a plain hopper with a soft-boiled egg in the middle) typically come with chutney, coconut sambal and often a range of curry dishes.

The list: