Breakfast Around The World Infographic

Recipes for Breakfast Success in Making Mornings More Exciting

Indulge your senses on a round-the-world taste trip and try a breakfast from a different country every day. Looking for a way to make breakfast more exciting? These tastebud-tingling recipes come from countries stretching from China to the USA. Use them to explore early morning foody heaven across a rich array of cultures.

Every day, billions of people eat morning fare that encompasses just about every ingredient you can think of. Fancy an international taste experience? Plan a daily voyage using these breakfasts and make mealtimes more interesting for you and your family.

Grab your frying pan and get ready for the best breakfast recipes on an international scale.

Breakfast in the United States: Pancakes

American pancakes come in all sizes, with all toppings. From blueberry to bacon, maple syrup to chocolate sauce, there's a vast variety of sweet and savoury pancakes across the states, plus a mix of sides. You might enjoy fruit with them, or sausages. You may like them spicy, salty or sweet. Pancakes are popular in the US precisely because of the endless possibilities.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of plain flour (one cup = 100g)
• Half a cup of caster sugar (50g)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 75g butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 240ml milk
• Maple syrup, fresh strawberries, blueberries, or other sweet toppings

Method:

1. Put your frying pan or griddle pan on a medium heat and let it warm up.
2. Add the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix (the sugar, baking powder and flour).
3. Melt 55g of the butter in a separate bowl or cup.
4. Mix the wet ingredients together into the butter.
5. Gently fold the two bowls of wet and dry ingredients together. It is easiest to fold the dry ingredients into the wet.
6. Place the remaining butter in the pan.
7. Using a large dessert spoon, place individual spoons of the mixture into the pan. The mixture will spread out and form circles.
8. Leave for two to three minutes then flip.
9. Serve with the toppings of your choice.

England: The Full English Breakfast

The Full English includes a mixture of meat and veg fried in a pan. The meal is supposed to arm you with enough calories to go out into the cold and do a full day's work. It tries to be a one-pan meal, which makes cleaning up easier too.

Ingredients:

• Oil or butter
• Square sausage
• Round sausage
• Black pudding
• 1 onion
• 1 tomato
• Eggs
• Beans
• Mushrooms
• Fried bread

Method:

1. Heat a frying pan to a medium-hot heat, setting 4.
2. Melt the butter or heat the oil.
3. When it starts to sizzle, add the sausages and black pudding to the pan. These will take longest to cook.
4. Next, finely dice your onion and add it to the pan.
5. Slice your tomato in half and add it to the pan.
6. You can fry, poach or scramble your egg(s). Frying is traditional as it means they go in the pan.
7. Cook your beans in a pot or in the microwave.
8. Chop your mushrooms into slices and add them to the pan.
9. Add the bread last. It will soak up any juices left over as it toasts.
10. Serve on a large plate and enjoy.

Japanese Breakfast: Grilled Fish and Miso Soup

The Japanese have a balanced diet rich in fish, grains, vegetables and umami flavourings like soy sauce and tamarind paste. A traditional breakfast in this part of the world blends these favourites, including everything from bamboo shoots to edamame beans. Choose your favourites as optional veg extras and you have a breakfast fit for a dynasty.

Ingredients:

• 50g wholegrain rice
• 2 tbsp mixed pickle
• 1 tbsp dashi stock
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 tsp miso paste (white)
• 1 diced spring onion for garnish
• 1 pinch diced ginger
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 fillet of salmon

Method:

1. Cook your rice in 2 cups of water. Add a little salt to taste.
2. Top the cooked rice with pickle and move on to your soup.
3. Mix dashi stock, miso paste and boiling water to make your miso soup. You can add optional extras, although a diced spring onion is all you need to finish this dish.
4. Cook the salmon gently. You may wish to eat the salmon raw.
5. Top it with the diced ginger and the soy sauce.
6. Serve all dishes together and enjoy.

The Iconic French Breakfast: Coffee and a Croissant

For the French, the coffee that comes with breakfast is just as important as the breakfast itself. Make your coffee using ground espresso beans, served after a slow soak in boiling water. Invest in a cafetiere for classic French roasts: add boiling water to your ground beans, place the lid on the cafetiere and let it sit while you make your croissant.

Our top tip here is to buy your croissant from a traditional bakery. Making them is long and difficult. Nevertheless, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 50g caster sugar
• 15g dried, fast-acting yeast
• 300ml lukewarm water
• 315g room temperature butter
• 1 beaten egg

Method:

1. Mix flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Add the yeast to the lukewarm water, add a pinch of sugar, and cover it with a tea towel. Set aside somewhere warm for a few minutes or until you see bubbles on the surface.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and gradually knead in the frothy yeast water.
4. Knead for ten minutes.
5. Shape it into a ball, use 15g of butter to create a buttered bowl for the dough, cover it with cling film and leave it to sit in the fridge for 2 hours.
6. Spread 300g butter thinly on a sheet of parchment paper. Place a second sheet of paper over it, then shape it into a large rectangle. Keep it flat in the fridge while your dough rests.
7. After 2 hours, remove the dough and roll it into a rectangle the same shape as your butter but twice as large.
8. Wrap the dough around the chilled butter, removed from the paper, folding half of the dough around the butter on each side. Fold this in half again so that the two edges make a seam. Roll the pastry out.
9. Repeat this process 2 more times.
10. Leave to chill overnight.
11. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, around 60 x 30cm. Cut it in half lengthways, then cut it into 7 triangles.
12. Take a triangle, stretch it out, and roll the pastry around itself while you grip the two ends, then pinch the ends together in a circle.
13. Repeat for all triangles.
14. Baste with the beaten egg.
15. Cook at 180°C or gas mark 6 for 18 minutes and serve.

Indian Breakfasts: Idli and Sambar

Idli are gorgeous steamed rice cakes served alongside a tasty lentil soup designed to be sharper on the palate. This popular South Indian breakfast makes a great start to any day. Eating hot food also helps combat the heat, although you might be tempted to reach for the chilled soda. Here's how they cool down in India, with an idli and sambar recipe.

Ingredients:

• 75g dal lentils and 2 cups of water for cooking
• 2 tbsp tamarind paste
• Pinch of salt
• 1 diced medium onion
• 6 green beans
• 1 diced carrot
• 50g cubed pumpkin
• 1 mashed tomato
• Spices: turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander leaves, ghee, 2 sprigs curry leaves, 1 dried red chilli, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, methi seeds, and hing

Method:

1. Rinse and cook your dal.
2. Mash it and set it aside.
3. Add oil to a pot and heat it, then add the mustard, cumin and methi.
4. Add red chillies after a few seconds of popping. Add the curry leaves and hing.
5. Set aside half of the mixture to add at the end.
6. Add all your veggies and saute for 3 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and cook until soft.
7. Add the tamarind and the dal, then bring it to the boil.
8. Add a splash of water to prevent burning.
9. Taste and add tamarind or salt as you need it.
10. When it bubbles, it is cooked. You can add the other half of the mixture when it is served.
11. Serve with soft idli, dosa, uthappam, pongal, and vada.

A Mexican Breakfast: Chilaquiles

Mexico is known for tortilla chips, and this breakfast dish makes the most of that international foody fixation. Featuring fresh salsa and filled with power-pushing carbs, this is a spicy kick of a dish designed to get you through the day.

Ingredients:

• Stale tortillas, quartered, then cut into wedges
• Frying oil, usually corn
• Salt
• 200g red chilli sauce, can be substituted for salsa verde
• Epazote sprig
• Cotija cheese or crème fraiche
• Chopped coriander
• 1 diced red onion
• 1 avocado

Method:

1. Add the oil to a large pan, wait until it heats, then add the wedges of stale tortilla. Empty them onto a paper towel and add the salt.
2. Add the salsa and epazote to the pan and let it cook for ten minutes.
3. Add the tortillas to the salsa, coat them, cook them, and add the herbs, spices and vegetables as garnish.

Breakfast in Australia: Avocado Toast

It turns out avocado toast isn't just preventing Millennials from buying houses, it's also Australia's favourite breakfast. Toppings might include anything from lemon and cucumber slices to diced bacon, and sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, dill and sea salt are all favourite pairings. Here is one of our simplest recipes of the day.

Ingredients:

• Crusty bread of your choice
• Full fat butter
• 1 whole avocado
• Toppings of your choice: diced red onion or spring onion, celery, sliced tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, cheese, mozzarella, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, diced walnut, salt and pepper, chives, dill, coleslaw, thinly sliced meats, red peppers, chilli flakes, sesame oil, lemon juice, lime juice... the list goes on

Method:

1. Toast the bread; an open flame gives the best taste.
2. Butter your toast.
3. Peel and slice the avocado. You can mash it if you prefer.
4. Place the avocado on the toast and serve it with the toppings of your choice.

Traditional Turkish Breakfasts: Turkish Charcuterie

Ever wonder where the idea of al fresco charcuterie came from? European countries, including Turkey, serve simple fare presented in a similar way to tapas. Small dishes of each topping are laid out alongside breads, meats and other carbohydrates. A traditional Turkish breakfast spread might look like the following.

Ingredients:

• Menemen: onions, olive oil, red and green peppers, red chillies, chopped tomatoes, 1 tbsp sugar, 6 tbsp yoghurt, 2 cloves of garlic, and 4 eggs, all cooked together in a single pan
• Warm pitta bread
• Cheese and feta cheese
• Tofu
• Butter
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Olives
• Ham or cold meat
• Beetroot
• A selection of other fresh ingredients

Method:

1. Put on your menemen first, including all the ingredients in one pan and adding your four eggs last.
2. Create small plates of the other ingredients, all in separate dishes.
3. Serve with warm pitta bread and eat.

Breakfast in Israel: Shakshuka

This dish originally hails from Africa, but it's warming and succulent enough that Israelis start the day with it. The recipe involves poaching your eggs in as spicy a tomato sauce as you can make. It heats you up and gives you the energy you need to attack your morning.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Chopped red onion
• Chopped red chilli
• Chopped garlic, 2 cloves
• Chopped coriander
• Chopped cherry tomatoes, one pack
• 1 tbsp of caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 large eggs

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan then add the onions. Saute until soft.
2. Add the chilli, garlic and coriander.
3. Stir in the tomatoes and the sugar and salt when the chillies are soft.
4. Make 4 wells in the mixture and add in your eggs.
5. Cover the pan and cook for 6 minutes.
6. Add a further sprinkle of coriander to garnish, then serve.

Big Breakfast in China: Congee and Youtiao

China is another nation that tells us Westerners we don't eat enough rice. They're right; it's one of the best complex carbohydrates out there. In China, rice becomes a breakfast porridge, eaten alongside deep-fried dough known as youtiao.

Ingredients:

• For congee: 1 cup of rice, 10-12 cups of water or stock, 1 tsp sesame oil
• For youtiao: 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 egg, 1 tsp vegetable oil, sesame oil or butter to taste, half a cup of water and oil to brush

Method:

1. For congee: wash your rice and soak it for thirty minutes. Add your sesame oil. Set this aside for 15 minutes. Boil hot water and add the rice. Boil it for 30 minutes. Stir in one single direction for a finer porridge.
2. For youtiao: mix everything in a single bowl until it forms a dough, combining dry ingredients first and adding wet ingredients last. Cover and set aside for an hour. Shape the dough into a long rectangle and slice this into one inch strips. Use a chopstick to press down in the centre of each strip and curl the edges upwards. Deep fry and serve.

What's Breakfast Like in Your Country?

Did we cover your country's favourite breakfast here? If not, let us know in the comments.