Hot and sour, tom yum is another signature Thai dish that can be whipped up in a second by street vendors. Lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal are essential ingredients. The soup is rumoured to even cure colds.

A ubiquitous rice noodle dish, pad Thai is stir fried in a tamarind, fish sauce, chilli and palm sugar mix, and commonly offered with shrimp. Natalie Paris

Vietnam

Originating in China, pho tiu is a noodle dish that captures the essence of Vietnamese cuisine salty, sweet, sour and spicy. Contrasting textures are provided by silky fresh rice noodles, tender lean shoulder of pork, the crunch of peanuts and crispy shallots. Its aesthetically pleasing, too, when delivered to the table with the freshest tangle of noodles on top. Mark Lowerson, guide at Street Eats Hanoi (streetfoodtourshanoi.blogspot.com)

Pho

Pho is the most famous Vietnamese street food. You can find steaming bowls of it in the city and the countryside, but it is more popular in the north. The dish is made using fresh flat rice noodles, with a good broth made from oxtail bones or marrow bones. It needs to be clear, not muddy and dark, and fragrant with beef, anise and ginger. You can serve this soup with several toppings of beef, chicken and pork, adding spring onion, beansprouts, basil and a piece of lemon.

Hu tieu soup is so popular that local people have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even a late night meal. It is made of round yellow or skinny white rice noodles. Similar to pho, it can be made with beef, prawn, chicken or pork. However, due to the hot temperature all year round in Ho Chi Minh City, local people prefer to put some sugar on their soup, so it normally tastes sweeter than pho.

You can find com tam (broken rice) anywhere, from street stalls to fancy restaurants, at any time of day. Ingredients are strikingly simple - broken rice with grilled pork, pork skin, egg and fish sauce - yet the tastes are unforgettable. Huong Tran, guide for Urban Adventures Saigon Street Food by Night tour (urbanadventures.com)

Laos

Khao tom is an addictive steamed dessert sold on the streets and made with a mixture of sticky rice, black bean and fresh coconut cream which is then steamed in 4in-long banana leaf parcels. It can also be made with ground rice powder, and other ingredients can be substituted in the mix, such as peanuts. Its cheap, filling and delicious, and widely available.

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South-East Asia's best (and worst) street food