Have you ever tried these local dishes in Macau?

Macau is more than just a casino city. It’s also a place where East met West over 400 years ago to produce the world’s first fusion food: Macanese cuisine. A unique blend of both Chinese and Portuguese ingredients and cooking techniques, here are 9 of the tastiest Macanese dishes to try on your next visit.

Minchi

Minchi is a signature Macanese dish. Comfort food at its best, combining minced beef with diced potatoes stir-fried with onions, and seasoned with Worcestershire sauce. It’s often topped with a fried egg and served with a side of steaming white rice. Minchi is a household favorite in Macau, but you can also find it on the menu at several Macanese restaurants in town. Try local canteen-style restaurant Riquexo.

Tacho

This Macanese take on a traditional Portuguese slow-cooked stew is a veritable feast of both European and Asian elements in one. Combining cabbage, with cuts of ham, pork and Chinese meats, including cured sausages and duck, it’s a warming winter stew that is true Macanese soul food. Try it at Restaurant Carlos.

Capela

Capela is a Macanese-style meatloaf. This popular family-style dish consists of beef, pork, chorizo, bread and olives. It’s topped with crispy bacon slices and grated cheese.

African chicken

Considered the quintessential Macanese dish, African chicken is essentially a Macanese take on chicken curry. Created by a local Macau chef in the 1940s, using spices he obtained from trips to Africa, it’s become a staple dish at local restaurants. It’s a moreish combination of chicken baked in a rich sauce made of peanuts, tomato, grated coconut, red pepper, a little chili, and sometimes a touch of paprika.

See more: African chicken, the Macau's national dish

Pork chop bun

Sometimes referred to as ‘the Macanese version of a hamburger’. This signature Macanese snack combines a succulently marinated pork chop wrapped in a warm, chewy bun. Sun Ying Kei specializes in this Macanese specialty.

Braised pork in tamarind shrimp sauce

Another mouthwatering example of Macanese fusion cooking is stewed tamarind pork. A slow-cooked pork stew coated in a rich Macanese shrimp paste sauce. The sauce is a careful balance of sweet, sour and spicy flavors. It blends dried shrimp, brandy, salt and pepper, chilies and bay leaf.

Salted cod fritters (Pasteis de Bacalhau)

These delicious golden brown croquettes, filled with salted cod, mashed potato, onion, egg and parsley, are a staple of Portuguese and Macanese menus. Crunchy on the outside and creamily soft on the inside, they can be served either hot or cold. Try them at O Santos, a local Portuguese restaurant in Taipa Village.

Macanese chili prawns

Also known as gambas à Macau, Macanese chili prawns are stuffed with garlic, red chili, shallot and parsley before being fried and finished with a white wine and garlic sauce.

Macau egg tart

Arguably the city’s most famous snack, Macau egg tarts continue to sell quicker than proverbial hotcakes. Based on the Portuguese pastéis de nata and given a local spin, they combine crispy crème brulée tops, flaky pastry crusts and delicious egg custard centers. Best served fresh from the original Lord Stow’s Bakery, located in the heart of Macau’s Coloane Village.

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Regional dishes you need to try in Japan

Japan has a wonderful unique cuisine. Different regions have their own traditions of agriculture, produce and recipes. So in addition to the traditional Japanese dishes found throughout the country, many regions and cities in Japan have their own specialties.

Yubari Melon (Hokkaido)

Known also as “Yubari King”. Yubari melons are grown only in a small town called Yubari city. The sweetest melon you can ever taste. Some Japanese people present Yubari King melons as gifts during the holiday called chugen. It becomes the must-have dessert in Hokkaido.

Takoyaki (Osaka)

Takoyaki is the main street food associated with Osaka. This tasty treat is a fried round mixture of batter, octopus, ginger, and usually some vegetables and spices. The best place to sample takoyaki is at one of the food stalls along the Dotonbori, but this dish can be found all over the city. Many locals even have special takoyaki-making grills at home.

Goya Champuru (Okinawa)

Goya (bitter melon) came to Okinawa from Southeast Asia and quickly became one of the region's most favored vegetables.Champuru means "stir-fry" in the Okinawan language. This dish is a stir-fry of goya, pork, tofu and eggs. It is prepared by stir-frying various ingredients.

Monja-yaki (Tokyo)

Originally a children’s treat, monjayaki is now established as a specialty of the Tsukishima area of Tokyo (near Ginza). It’s a “cook it yourself” dish with ingredients such as dried squid, sweetcorn and cabbage are cooked on the hotplate. Then a runny batter is poured into a hollow in the middle. It is all scraped around with a small spatula and eaten off the spatula as it is cooked.

Chagayu (Nara)

Chagayu is a traditional breakfast food from Nara that’s made by boiling rice in roasted green tea with salt until it becomes a soupy porridge. The dish was originally enjoyed by monks at Nara’s Todai-ji temple as part of the Omizutori festival, but eventually became a common food enjoyed by locals throughout the region. Chagayu can be eaten hot or cold, and the roasted aroma of the green tea gives this wholesome dish a complex, but highly satisfying flavor.

Yudofu (Kyoto)

Popular with Japanese Buddhist, a yudofu is a simple yet delicious hot pot. Minimal ingredients used in this dish as a typical Yudofu only contains tofu cubes and vegetables in hot water. However, as with many recipes, there are options with various meats and more ingredients. Kombu also is known as edible seaweed can be added for extra flavor. The Yudofu is a winter favorite amongst the Japanese monks and can be as simple or as complex as you fancy.

See more: Japanese healthy dishes for cold weather

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