21 Diverse, Delicious Recipes From Cultures Around The World

“My family is Filipino, and Sinigang is the recipe that always reminds me of my roots. Sinigang is a savory and sour soup. My favorite version of it is made with tamarind and pork. We eat it over rice and it just always tastes like home.” —lizardb1

Recipe: Sinigang na baboy (Pork Sinigang)

“Momos are dumplings from Nepal or Tibet, and eating them instantly reminds me of childhood. Growing up, my family usually made momos once or twice a month on Fridays. We would sit together and prepare them just before dinner. I remember when I couldn’t even fold them properly. We don’t really eat momos as often anymore, but they still bring me right back to those childhood days.” —Can You Speak More sLuSh

Recipe: Tibetan Vegetable Momos With Sesame Tomato Chutney

“My family is from Western Canada and I grew up in Vancouver. Nanaimo bars a Canadian dessert and a a staple at most family gatherings. These three-layer bars don’t require any baking. They always remind me of summers spent at our family cabin, and whenever I get homesick I make them.” —Melody

Recipe: Nanaimo Bars

“I am Hmong, and this is a true Thai-Laotian dish that I’ve eaten and adored since I was a child. It’s a noodle soup that can be made with lots of different ingredients like chicken, fish or pork. Typically, we don’t use a single recipe. Rather, we eyeball the ingredients. I’ve introduced many non-Asian friends to this dish and they all absolutely love it.” —bmay-lyy

Recipe: Khao Poon

“This dish is a combination of my Mexican heritage and my mother’s Texas/Arkansas roots that make me who I am. We make pork with nopales, which is cactus. Is very similar in taste to green beans, and the spicier you prepare it the better it tastes.” —Allierawrkins

Recipe: Pork Chile With Nopales

“My family is Ashkenazi Jewish and matzah ball soup is the recipe that connects me to my identity. We eat this as part of Shabbat dinner on Friday nights with a piece of challah on the side. It always makes me feel at home.” —tglazer

Recipe: Chicken Soup With Matzo Balls

“This Cambodian dish consists of mainly beef (or any meat you want) with onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and a fried egg on top. The beef is cooked in a delicious sauce and the onions are caramelized. We typically eat it with a fried egg and rice.” —pheakthras

Recipe: Lok Lak

“Arepas are a food made from a dough of ground maize cooked flour. They’re popular in Venezuelan cooking, but also in other South American cuisines. They are the most amazing comfort food and can be filled with beef, chicken, cheese, black beans, avocado, or whatever you like.” —cindyc4e5ed0ee2

Recipe: Venezuelan Arepas

“Lefse is Norwegian recipe that has been passed down through my family. It’s almost like a potato-based tortilla or flatbread. It’s a very versatile fish, and it requires some practice to master. I’m still getting better every time I attempt to cook it.” —tinka287

Recipe: Norwegian Lefse

“I’m half Russian, and food is a huge part of how I remember by grandparents. We would start meals with zakuski, which were little bites of caviar, brown bread, smoked salmon and homemade pickles. The main course would usually be okroshka, which is a cold soup. There are tons of variations but my Deda’s version was made with buttermilk, sorrel, chopped cucumber, radish, scallion, dill, hard boiled egg, boiled potato, and beef. It gets better as it sits in the fridge, and it’s so refreshing in the summertime. I remember slurping it up as a three year old. —lydiamargaretd

Recipe: Okroshka (Russian Summer Soup)

“My family is Taiwanese, and each Christmas when visiting my grandmother in Minnesota, she taught me how to make recipes from her childhood. She showed me how to wrap egg rolls and how to stir sticky rice while teaching us different phrases in Mandarin and telling us stories of our family in Taiwan.” —cubbies

Recipe: Taiwanese Egg Crêpe Roll

“My family is Irish, and making traditional foods like brown bread, bangers and mash, and colcannon is the way we keep our heritage alive. It was always very important to my great grandpa that my family remember where we come from, and this is how we do it.” —Louis28

Recipe: Bangers and Mash

“My family always made this southern staple: pinto beans with ham hocks, roasted chiles, roasted jalapeños, canned green chiles, onion, and garlic. We always had this meal in our fridge growing up and so it reminds me of home. These beans go with everything like rice, eggs, or potatoes.” —Mommacat

Recipe: Slow Cooker Pinto Beans and Ham

I am of Mongolian decent and many of our traditional foods are a combination of Asian and Soviet Russian era cuisine. One meal that I always associate with my heritage is Russian potato salad (Olivier salad) and dumplings (called Buuz). —Usregch

Recipe: Olivier Salad

This breakfast dish made is basically the Ashkenazi version of migas. It’s made with Matzo, which is broken into small squares and briefly soaked in water, then beaten with eggs and fried in oil like scrambled eggs. It’s most often considered a passover food, but it makes a delicious breakfast or brunch any time of the year. —tdf

Recipe: Matzo Brei

“Huli is a spicy vegetable and lentil soup, which we serve with rice. South Indian food is hard to find in America so I’ve never seen it at any restaurant. I’ve only ever eaten it at home so it always reminds me of my family.” —melonette000

Recipe: Kannada Huli

I am a Romanian Jew now living in the U.S. When my brother and I were kids we would always ask our grandma for papanasi which are basically fried cheese donuts tossed in toasted breadcrumbs, drizzled with melted butter, and dipped in sugar or jam. They are light and fluffy and delicate when made properly.” —maiat40d30191e

Recipe: Romanian Fried Cheese Doughnuts (Papanasi)

My family is Trinidadian and a Trini Sunday lunch always makes me feel at home. Trinidad is influenced by lots of different cultures, and that’s reflected in the food. Our typical Sunday lunch includes vegetable fried rice, baked chicken, salad, and a side like macaroni or pastelle pie. This meal is a staple in any Trinidadian household– we cook it on Christmas.

Recipe: Trini Chicken Pelau