Cuisine in the World of Avatar

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

Air Nomads


As the Air Nomad civilization is extinct, not much information is known about their culinary tastes. However, the most defining characteristic in their cuisine was a strict vegetarianism. Aside from vegetarian dishes, Air Nomads are known for their sweets, such as fruit pies and custard tarts.

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

Common ingredients

 * Apple - Used for pies and feeding sky bison.
 * Banana - Used for juices.
 * Flour - Used in baking fruit pies, for example.
 * Moon peach - Eaten whole.
 * Nuts - Eaten for a snack.
 * Onion - Used for juices.

Dishes

 * Dumplings - Presumably filled with vegetables.
 * Fruit pie - Fruit mince-filled pastries, baked.
 * Moon cakes - A cake.
 * Noodles - Mixed with vegetables.
 * Rice - Eaten as a side dish.
 * Egg custard tart - Aang's favorite.

Water Tribe


Because of the bare land on which they live, the Water Tribes draw most of their food sources from the ocean. Cuisine basically consists of sea crab, sea prunes, sea squid, seaweed, and seal jerky.

Cooking style
The cooking style of the Water Tribe is mainly boiling or stewing, due to the limited resources they have 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

 * Fish - Usually steamed or boiled.
 * Sea crab - Presumably fried or used in stews.
 * Octopus/Squid - Presumably fried or used in stews.
 * Sea prune - Boiled into sea prune stew.
 * Seal - Used to make blubbered seal jerky.
 * Seaweed - Made into noodles, soup, bread, and cookies.
 * Whale - Usually boiled.

Dishes

 * Arctic hen - A delectable Southern Water Tribe dish consisting of the meat of the arctic hen.
 * Blubbered seal jerky - Jerky made from seal meat and blubber.
 * Five-flavor soup - Traditional Southern Water Tribe dinner.
 * Pickled fish - A meal that lives up to its name; eaten in the Northern Water Tribe.
 * Sea prune stew - Sea prunes stewed in water and with other common ingredients.
 * Tentacle soup - A Northern Water Tribe dish, consisting of squid/octopus tentacles and noodles.
 * Seaweed noodles- A typical Southern Water Tribe dish.

Earth Kingdom


People in the Earth Kingdom eat mostly a variety of grown foods such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, rice, and tea. 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. Meats and poultry from wild game and farms are also common.

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

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

Fruits

 * Apple
 * Berries
 * Eggplant
 * Leechi nuts
 * Mango
 * Moon peaches
 * Papaya
 * Watermelon

Dishes

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

Beverages

 * Mango - Made from mangoes and other fruits mixed with water in an ice bowl.
 * Tea - Made from a variety of leaves in hot water.
 * Cactus juice - Normally drunk straight from the cactus.

Others

 * Jennamite - A mineral that grows at remarkable speeds. It is also rock candy.

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 roasted. Baking is also extensively used to make cakes, buns, and tarts. The Fire Nation also has many snack foods, commonly in the form of roasted bite-sized pieces with a large amount of spices. Chili and other spices are added to nearly all savory food.

Common ingredients

 * Cabbage - Usually boiled, stir-fried, or left uncooked and used as garnish.
 * Chili - Used extensively for almost any type of dish; found stir fried, boiled, and in salads.
 * Clams - Usually boiled.
 * Crab - Presumably fried.
 * Duck - Usually roasted.
 * Fish - Usually steamed with garnish applied.
 * Flour - Made from wheat into buns and dumplings.
 * Komodo chicken - Presumably roasted.
 * Komodo rhino - Made into sausages.
 * Rice - A staple food, usually boiled.
 * Sea slug - Usually smoked.
 * Squid - Presumably fried.
 * Wheat - A staple food, made into flour.

Fruits and vegetables

 * Ash banana
 * Banana
 * Cherries
 * Leechi nuts
 * Lemon
 * Lettuce
 * Mango
 * Ocean kumquat
 * Pink Berries 
 * Purple berries
 * Tomato
 * Tomato-carrot
 * Watermelon
 * Pomegranate

Dishes

 * Buns and bread - Made from flour.
 * Cookies
 * Dumplings - Flour filled with meat and vegetables, usually boiled.
 * Fire gummies - Snack food.
 * Flaming fire flakes - Snack food; spicy flakes that are roasted.
 * Fruit tart - Dessert. It can be served with rose petals on top.
 * Ice cream - Frozen cream, eaten in waffle cones.
 * Komodo sausage - Sausage made from komodo rhino meat.
 * Noodle Soup - Soup with noodles and sea foods.
 * Roast duck - Duck that is seasoned, roasted and cut into bite-sized pieces.
 * Sea Soup - Soup with sea food and eggs.
 * Sizzle-crisps - Snack food, probably made from meat.
 * Smoked sea slug - Sea slug smoked.
 * Tart pie - Pie with fruit tart on top.

Beverages

 * Juice - A cold drink with a slice of fruit; a favorite of Piandao.
 * 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 jasmine and ginseng tea, the latter of which Iroh says is his favorite.
 * Watermelon juice - Drunk on especially hot days or at the beach.

Dishes

 * Seaweed noodles - A dish typical from the Southern Water Tribe. It is sold at Narook's Seaweed Noodlery.
 * Flamey-Os Instant Noodles - A convenient dish known for its low preparation time, its producers sponsored a pro-bending match in order to advertise the product. Shiro Shinobi described the food as the "the noodliest noodles in the United Republic."

Beverages

 * Leechi juice - Made from leechi nuts.

Trivia

 * Most dishes, specifically those of the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, are heavily influenced by Asian cuisine, particularly that of China. Many of them are actual dishes. Also, chopsticks are the primary eating utensils worldwide.