Cuisine in the World of Avatar

Cuisine in the Avatar World can be divided into roughly four traditions, which follow the division of the Four Nations, however regional variation inside each nation can be large, particularly in the Earth Kingdom.

Most dishes, particularly those of the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, are heavily influenced by Asian cuisine, particularly that of China, and many are actual dishes. Chopsticks are the primary eating utensils worldwide.

Air Nomads


As the Air Nomad civilization is extinct, not much information is provided about their culinary tastes. However, it is known that the most defining characteristic in their cuisine is strict vegetarianism. It is most likely their diet was based on fruits, vegetables and grains, and possibly eggs and dairy products, since Aang had no objection to eating egg custard in The Great Divide.

Cooking Style
Not much is known about the cooking style of Air Nomads. The only method of cooking seen thus far is baking.

Common Ingredients

 * Moon Peach - Eaten whole
 * Flour - Used in baking, for example Fruit Pies
 * Apple- Used for pies 
 * Nuts- eaten for a snack

Dishes

 * Fruit Pie - Fruit mince filled pastries, baked
 * Dumplings - Presumably filled with vegetables
 * Moon cakes- a cake commonly eaten in China, now a days the insides are chocolate
 * Rice- eaten as a side dish
 * Noodles- mixed with vegtables

Water Tribe


The Water Tribe diet consists of a large variety of seafood and meats. However, their vegetables are largely limited to what they can find on the ocean floor, such as sea prunes.

Cooking Style
The cooking style of the Water Tribe is mainly boiling or stewing, due to the limited resources available to make more elaborate dishes. Also, as they live in a colder part of the world, it is more practical to have food that warms the body like stews, and less practical to have salads. They also make jerky out of some of the meat.

Common Ingredients

 * Whale - Usually boiled
 * Seal - Used to make Blubbered Seal Jerky
 * Octopus/Squid
 * Fish - Usually steamed or boiled
 * Seaweed - Made into soup, bread, and cookies
 * Sea Prune - Boiled into Sea Prune Stew
 * Giant Sea Crab

Dishes

 * Sea Prune Stew - Sea Prunes stewed in water and with other common ingredients
 * Blubbered Seal Jerky - Jerky made from seal meat and blubber
 * Five-flavor soup - Traditional Southern Water Tribe dinner
 * Tentacle Soup - A Northern Water Tribe dish, consisting of squid/octopus tentacles and noodles
 * Arctic Hen - A delectable Southern Water Tribe dish consisting of the meat of the Arctic Hen.
 * Pickled Fish - A meal that lives up to its name, and is eaten in the Northern Water Tribe.

Earth Kingdom


Cuisine in the Earth Kingdom is the one closest to real world Asian cuisine, particularly that of China. People in the Earth Kingdom eat grains (particularly rice), vegetables and meats. There is a large regional variation on the types of food eaten, ranging from simpler village fare to the elaborate roasts, cakes etc. found in Ba Sing Se.

Cooking Style
A huge variety of cooking methods are utilized in the Earth Kingdom. Earth Kingdom people live in a huge country with great variation in climate, and therefore food. Boiling is used for rice and many vegetables. Fish is usually steamed, and meats are usually roasted. Baking is also extensively used to make cakes, buns and tarts.

Common Ingredients

 * Rice - A staple food, usually boiled
 * Wheat - A staple food, usually made into flour
 * Cabbage - Usually boiled, stir-fried or left uncooked and used as garnish
 * Lettuce - Usually boiled, stir-fried or left uncooked and used as garnish
 * Soy - Used to make tofu
 * Flour - Used to make noodles, cakes, pastries and buns
 * Chilli - Used as a flavoring
 * Fish - Usually steamed and then garnish applied
 * Chicken - Usually roasted
 * Duck - Usually roasted
 * Turkey Duck - Probably roasted
 * Pork - Usually roasted
 * Egg - Used in a variety of ways
 * Platypus Egg - Used in a variety of ways
 * Jennomite - "Rock Candy"
 * Mango - Used to make a beverage of the same name

Fruits

 * Mango
 * Apple
 * Watermelon
 * Berries
 * Moon Peaches
 * Leechi Nuts - Small reddish-brown nuts notable for their taste and abundance
 * Papaya

Dishes

 * Jook - Rice congee (rice cooked in a large amount of water)
 * Noodle soup - Noodles and various vegetables and meats cooked in soup
 * Tofu/Bean curd puffs - Tofu made into smaller puffs and fried
 * Crab puffs - Crab meat made into puffs
 * Soup - Made from a variety of meats and vegetables, usually thin
 * Roast Duck - Duck seasoned with herbs and spices, roasted and then a special sauce applied
 * Fried dough - Flour dough that is fried
 * Unfried dough - Regular flour dough, cut into the shape of Avatar Aang. Exclusive dish of Chin Village.
 * Cakes - Mixed flour, sugar, egg and butter that is baked
 * Pau buns
 * Egg Custard Tart - Tart with an egg custard center
 * Deep-fried Pickled Radishes - Deep-fried Pickled Radishes are never seen, only mentioned by Katara in "Sokka, The Avatar".

Beverages

 * Tea - Made from a variety of leaves in hot water. There are many varieties
 * Mango - Made from mangoes and other fruits mixed with water in an ice bowl

Fire Nation


The defining characteristic of Fire Nation cuisine is its spicy nature. Fire Nation citizens seem to put spices even into many of their delicacies and treats. Like the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation uses a wide variety of grains, meats and vegetables in cooking.

Cooking Style
As with the Earth Kingdom there are many cooking methods. Regional variation is smaller, but the available types of food are still extensive. Boiling is used for rice and many vegetables. Fish is usually steamed, and meats are usually roasted. Baking is also extensively used to make cakes, buns and tarts. The Fire Nation also has many snack foods, bite-sized pieces with a large amount of spices that are roasted. Chilli and other spices are added to nearly all savoury food.

Common Ingredients

 * Rice - A staple food, usually boiled
 * Wheat - A staple food, made into flour
 * Flour - Made from wheat, made into buns and dumplings
 * Cabbage - Usually boiled, stir-fried or left uncooked and used as garnish
 * Chilli - Used extensively for almost any type of dish, stir fried, boiled, fried, and salads
 * Duck - Usually roasted
 * Squid
 * Fish - Usually steamed and then garnish applied
 * Sea Slug - Usually smoked
 * Crab
 * Komodo Chicken
 * Komodo Rhino - Made into sausages

Fruits and Vegetables

 * Ash Banana - Usually baked into a bread
 * Ocean Kumquat - A sweet "fruit" from the ocean, eaten whole or used in stews, Peach like fruit
 * Purple Berries - Usually eaten whole
 * Mango
 * Banana
 * Watermelon
 * Lemon
 * Lettuce - Usualy steamed and used as garnish
 * Tomato
 * Pink Berries 
 * Cherries- Usually have pits in them, but the pit can be removed if one wants it to be

Dishes

 * Roast Duck - Duck that is seasoned, roasted and cut into bite-sized pieces
 * Komodo Sausage - Sausage made from Komodo Rhino meat
 * Smoked Sea Slug - Sea Slug smoked
 * Dumplings - Flour filled with meat and vegetables, usually boiled
 * Sea Soup - Soup with Sea foods and egg
 * Noodle Soup - Soup with noodles and Sea foods
 * Buns - Made from flour
 * Sizzle-Crisps - Snack food, probably made from meat
 * Fire Gummies - Snack food
 * Flaming Fire Flakes - Snack food, spicy flakes that are roasted
 * Ice Cream - Frozen cream, eaten in waffle cones
 * Fruit Tart - Dessert. It can be served with rose petals on the top
 * Tart Pie - Pie with Fruit Tart on top

Beverages

 * Tea - Made from a variety of leaves in hot water. There are many varieties. The type drank in the homeland is Fire Nation Spice Tea, mainly by commoners, but nobles may have it as well. They also enjoy Ginseng tea, which Iroh says is his favorite.
 * Juice - A cold drink with a slice of fruit, a favorite of Piandao.
 * Watermelon Juice - this is drunk on especially hot days or at the beach. It is drunk straight from the watermelon itself through a straw and is refreshing, cool and sweet.