10 Insanely Delicious National Dishes You Need To Try

When you spend most of your life in one country, as most of us do, your access to the cuisine of other cultures can be severely limited. Take a look across the borders and you may be surprised at just how many delicious and easily accessible foods there are that never made it over to your neighborhood restaurant. Here's some of the most unmissable dishes to date from around the world.

English Pork Pies

Via perfectpie.co.uk

Not too dissimilar to a heartier, personal-sized pot pie, an English pork pie is any meat lover's dream, and filling enough for an entire meal all by themselves. Common variations include pies with blue cheese or stuffing, in addition to the standard hunk of juicy pork.

Korean Bibimbap

Via chichilicious.com

A classic 'hot pot' style dish, bibimbap uses white rice as a foundation for all the good stuff, including thin-sliced beef, soy flavoring, scallions, mushrooms and (almost inevitably) a single, uncooked egg. Its flexibility in ingredients makes it a classic in Korean cooking for using up random, unwanted leftovers.

Japanese Okonomiyaki

Via wikihow.com

Although foreigners might think of sushi rolls when it comes to Japan, the Japanese palette is just as frequently acquainted with fried and deep-fried food stalls as it is with fresh seafood. Okonomiyaki is a savory, grilled pancake typically filled with lettuce and pork, with Kewpie-brand mayo and Worcestershire-style sauces serving as condiments.

Peruvian Papa a la Huancaína

Via machupicchuboston.com

Papa a la Huancaína, or potatoes cooked in the style of Huancoyo city, are a simple but surprisingly delicious side dish. They may not be the main course, but their white cheese, yellow pepper and evaporated milk-based sauce will keep you craving them. Much like deviled eggs, Papa a la Huancaína are eaten cold.

Moroccan Tajine

Via wordpress.com

North African tajine, or slow-cooked stew, previously relied on simple earthenware urns for cooking. However, the modern age has granted it the highly-practical benefit of ceramic crockpots. Ginger, cumin and paprika often spice this dish. Moroccan variants often include such ingredients as lemon-marinated chicken, lamb, olives, raisins or honey.

Scottish Dundee Cake

Via img.delicious.com.au

Scotland is more often known for its hearty, meat-and-potatoes edibles, but it has its fair share of delicious desserts, too. Dundee cake is one of the most accessible of the latter, as a flavorful fruit cake decoratively peppered with currants, almonds and/or sultanas.

Canadian Poutine

Via poutinedogcafe.com

Nowhere is the local climate's influence on food felt as strongly as in Canadian poutine. This is French fries done Canada's way, drowned in brown gravy and a not-so-healthy (but oh-so-delicious) layer of cheese curds.

German Red Groats

Via upload.wikimedia.org

You might think Germany starts at beer and ends at sausage, but for many Germans, their favorite dish is on the sweeter side of things. Red groats, or rote grütze, is a creamy pudding based on berries, including raspberries, strawberries, and currants. Accompanying milk is often used to cut the intensity of the pudding's flavor.

Chinese Gong Bao Chicken

Via beijinghaochi.com

While Westerns might be familiar with a variant of this dish that's not too different from the sweet and sour chicken of a takeout diner, Chinese gong bao chicken is a definite step up. Besides the obligatory chicken, you'll find fried peanuts and dried peppercorns contributing much of the flavor to this dish. The Sichuan variant is especially known for its spiciness.

Russian Medovik

Via ND10: i.ytimg.com

Medovik, or 'honey cake,' might seem like an oddly delicate dessert to find in a country with a reputation like Russia’s. The almost ephemeral layers of this cake are glued together with sweet sour cream, making a tower of up to fifteen 'floors.'

The best way to sample any of the above dishes is, of course, within their countries of origin--but globetrotting foodies on a budget don't have to worry. With Expedia coupons from Discountrue, you can find inexpensive flights to almost anywhere in the world. For those who cannot wait, some of these dishes can be made at home. Whether or not you're the chef at home, keeping half an eye on multicultural cuisine can help keep your meals as adventuresome as a trip around the world, without any downside to your wallet.