Taste Atlas's 10 Best Fried Foods in the World: Indonesia Takes the Crown!

The global culinary guide Taste Atlas released a list of the 10 best-rated deep-fried dishes with vegetables in the world in November 2023.

This list includes several Indonesian dishes. In fact, pempek topped the list as the world's best deep-fried dish, scoring 4.7 out of 5 points.

Pempek is a traditional Palembang (South Sumatra, Indonesia) dish made from ground fish—usually snakehead or Spanish mackerel—and tapioca.

"These round-shaped foods are usually steamed. Then, before serving, the pempek is deep-fried in vegetable oil and cut into bite-sized pieces," wrote Taste Atlas in its report.

Besides pempek, other Indonesian culinary delights on the list are tempe goreng and gorengan, scoring 4.4 and 4.3 points respectively.

Tempe goreng is a simple Indonesian dish. Thick slices of tempeh are marinated in spices and then deep-fried until crispy.

"Tempe goreng is usually served as a snack with sambal on the side, but it can also be a suitable complement to other dishes," said Taste Atlas.

Gorengan is a type of street food commonly found throughout Indonesia.

"Although there are many gorengan combinations, some of the most popular types are pisang goreng (fried banana), ubi goreng (fried sweet potato), aci goreng (fried tapioca flour), tahu goreng (fried tofu), and singkong goreng (fried cassava)," said Taste Atlas.

Here is the complete list of the 10 best deep-fried dishes with vegetables in the world according to Taste Atlas as of November 19, 2023:

1. Pempek (Indonesia): 4.7 points
2. Maakouda (Morocco): 4.6 points
3. Jiao yan you yu (China): 4.6 points
4. Laziji (China): 4.5 points
5. Lumpiang Shanghai (Philippines): 4.5 points
6. Tang cu pai gu (China): 4.4 points
7. Tempe goreng (Indonesia): 4.4 points
8. Malai kofta (India): 4.4 points
9. Gorengan (Indonesia): 4.3 points
10. Korokke (Japan): 4.2 points