Matt Preston gets fired up about fried chicken, Korean style.

We know and love Thai, Indian and Japanese, but what are the next cuisines to make it into the mainstream? Matt Preston makes his picks.

KOREAN: Here’s a cuisine that perfectly understands the principles of junky Stateside fast-food while embracing a glorious culinary heritage of its own. Korean food is often defined as bibimbap, bulgogi and kimchi, but there is so much more than that. Korean fried chicken is already justly revered here, while the barbecue also ranks among the best in the world. Familiar central flavours like garlic, soy sauce, sugar, sesame and chilli are perhaps best expressed in gochujang (Korea’s famous fermented red chilli paste) that pops up in loads of my favourite Korean eats. Seafood is strong and fermentation is to the fore, with dishes like the impeccable ‘rice thief crab’. It’s so moreish you won’t notice how many bowls you are consuming. Even the weird stuff like mung beans aren’t too weird, especially when turned into cellophane noodles with a texture like jellyfish.

It is, however, the street food of Korea that seems most likely to get an ever-larger foothold here. Food like tteokbokki, a 500-yearold elastic rice cake, delicious blushing in a sauce of gochujang, or savoury doughnuts and steamed hoppang buns filled with sweet pumpkin, curry or kimchi, or chewy fried hotteok buns filled with brown sugar caramel and peanuts.

SRI LANKAN: So much more than Indian-lite, Sri Lankan cuisine brings freshness and acidity to the table. Dishes are lifted by a dizzying array of sambols of grated fresh coconut or seeni sambol, a caramelised onion relish loaded with sugar, spices and tamarind. Given local production, you’ll find cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, chilli and mustard seeds joining coriander, cumin, saffron and those curry leaves in the spice box. Sambols are wonderful with Sri Lankan street snacks, from pan rolls to crispy-edged rice-flour hoppers. Hoppers would be among my favourite breakfasts, especially when there’s an oozy fried egg cooked at the bottom.

Curries are a staple, but they tend to come across as a bit lighter and more fragrant, tempered with a coconut milk. The more tropical climate sees a dizzying array of fruit and veg on offer, while Dutch, British and Malay influences also poke through. For me, the best way to end a meal – or start the day – is with local curds doused with kitul syrup, made from palm tree flower sap, reduced down to make this dark treacle. It’s like Sri Lanka’s maple syrup.

WEST AFRICAN: Dishes from the 16 countries of West Africa have made themselves around the world, whether as the inspiration of tamales in Mexico, Louisiana okra gumbo and the black-eyed peas that arrived in Deep South with West African slaves. West African is too often classified as a peasant cuisine of starchy staples like sorghum, rice, or the pounded yams, plantains and casava which are used to make Senagalese fufu and Nigerian akara fritters. But there’s so much more. Soups and stews are plentiful, using fish from the coast, or beef, chicken, lamb or game further inland, flavoured with chilli, onions and tomatoes.

For the culinary adventurer, there are ingredients like boabob, cola nut, egusi seeds, guinea fowl and melegueta pepper, as well as wild West African greens that pop up in dishes like palaver stew or Cameroonian ndolé. Yes, I know, Cameroon only borders West Africa but who would resent having this national dish on the menu?

KOREAN CHIMAEK SERVES 4.

13/ 4 cups (430ml) buttermilk, plus extra 1/ 2 cup (125ml)

21/ 2 tsp sesame oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3cm piece (15g) ginger, finely grated

8 (280g each) chicken thigh fillets, cut into 6cm pieces 2 cups (300g) plain flour

1/ 2 cup (70g) cornflour

4 eggs

Vegetable oil, to deep-fry

1/ 3 cup (80ml) Korean Bulldog barbecue sauce or regular

barbecue sauce

Toasted sesame seeds, to serve

KOREAN SEASONING

2 tbs each onion powder, garlic powder and sea salt

1 tbs Korean chilli powder (not flakes) or 2 tsp regular ground

chilli powder

3 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp white pepper

Combine the buttermilk, sesame oil, garlic and ginger in large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to combine. Set aside for 1 hour to marinate, or if time permits cover and refrigerate overnight.

For the Korean seasoning, combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Combine the Korean seasoning and flours in a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs and the extra 1/ 2 cup (125ml) buttermilk in a separate bowl and season to taste.

Heat a large heavy-based saucepan half-filled with oil over medium-high heat until the oil reaches 160°C (a cube of bread will turn golden in 45 seconds with the oil is hot enough).

Preheat oven to 160°C. Working with 1 piece of chicken at a time, remove from the buttermilk, then toss in the flour mixture. Dip into the egg mixture and then the flour mixture again, to coat. In batches, fry chicken, turning occasionally, for 6-8 minutes until golden. Reheat the oil as you go to make sure it stays at 160°C. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. Place in the oven to keep warm until ready to serve. Season to taste. Sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve, with barbecue sauce alongside.