ASEAN Celebrates 50 Years with Food Festival
BY LIMANA SOLAIMAN MRIDHA
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) celebrated its golden jubilee on August 8 with a flag-raising ceremony followed by a food festival at the Royal Thai Embassy in Dhaka.
The association, founded in 1967, includes countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. Member nations that have missions in Dhaka presented specialities from their respective countries at the food festival, held on the grounds of the Thai Embassy in Baridhara.
The Indonesian stall had nasi bogana, which is a dish prepared with steamed rice, garnished with minced potatoes and peanuts and served with shredded chicken, pindang (spiced) eggs and sauted long beans. The dish is fulfilling and mild, so anyone can enjoy it. Another item that was also served was dadar gulung _ a rolled pancake with a coconut filling. Green colour is added to the pancake batter to give it a vibrant look, and it is not too sweet or overpowering to your taste buds.
The Philippines presented a sweet dish called suman moron, which is a sticky rice cake rolled in banana leaf with milk and chocolate. They also served polvoron, which is a Spanish-style shortbread made with flour, sugar, milk and nuts and has a crumbly texture and interesting flavours, such as cookie and cream, coffee, cashew nut and more.
Malaysia presented its traditional nasi lemak with fried chicken. It is a rice dish cooked with coconut milk and served with fried chicken on the side. The dish is also adorned with sambal, fried anchovies, boiled egg and cucumber.
The Singaporean stall had fried vermicelli, served with boiled eggs. The flavour was spicy, sweet and sour all at the same time.
According to the ASEAN declaration, the alliance promotes economic progress, as well as social and cultural development in the Southeast Asian region and strives to maintain regional peace and stability.
Photos: Writer, courtesy.
