Evan thinks he’s Asian. He will eat sushi rolls, he’s obsessed with rice and noodles and he has to dip everything in soy sauce or kecip manis. Every time we go back to the US or Mexico he suffers from Asian food withdrawal and we have to at least find some rice from him.

Here’s a list of our favorite Asian snacks in no particular order.

1. Seaweed

Evidence of Evan’s Asian roots (being born in Thailand and all), is his fixation with Seaweed snacks. They provide a satisfying crunch just like chips but with less than half the calories and sodium! Now that’s a good treat! Evan likes the laver variety roasted in sesame oil the best. He can eat two packages at a time! Mom likes the fact that they barely have any calories and that they are very tasty. I don’t have a specific brand I prefer for the roasted seaweed, however when we buy “crispy” seaweed, we like the Thai brand TaoKaiNoi the best.

2. Glico Sticks

This Japanese food brand boasts a wide array of “sticky” snacks. The most popular are “Pocky” sticks, which are graham cracker sticks covered in a confection that can be any flavor you can imagine. If you go to a grocery store in Asia you will probably be able to find all kinds of sticks. From corn sticks and pretzel sticks, to potato and pizza flavored sticks. Evan prefers the potato sticks, but then again, he changes his mind every few weeks and suddenly decides he would rather eat chocolate pocky sticks, or at least play with them.  These are easy to find everywhere and very easy to carry around.

3. Sticky Rice

Sticky or glutinous rice has a great texture for toddlers to eat. It’s very easy for them to just grab some with their little fingers and put it in their mouths. Evan likes eating it plain or dipping it in soy sauce. Ohh how we miss Thai sticky rice, and I don’t only mean the delicious sweet coconut milk covered one, but the plain white sticky rice as well. I would just buy some at the grocery store on our street or even from a street vendor and Evan would have a blast making little rice balls with his fingers and then would devour them. Sticky rice is a bit tricky to prepare because you have to make sure you don’t overcook it, but it’s totally worth it. If your kids are not big fans of eating grains, you can be sure that they will have fun putting these little rice balls in their mouths.

4. Jelly

You can find it in bubble tea, Starbuck’s Frapuccinos and as Yoghurt and Ice Cream toppings. Jelly is a very popular snack among kids and adults. In most places you can add Jelly to your order and there’s all kinds of flavors, including coffee, chocolate and durian. We make jelly at home very often; Evan adores it. The good news for mom is that in Indonesia, you can find jelly with vegetable extracts, fiber and prebiotics that still tastes yummy.  The brand we normally buy is Nutrijell. We usually make little jelly shapes for him to take as a snack to his preschool or for him to eat at home. He can usually eat about 5 or 6 at a time and with a low sugar content and lots of vitamins, I am happy to give him as many as he wants.

5. Twelve Cereal Sticks

These I started buying for my husband as a healthy snack to take to work. Evan took a bite of one and has loved them ever since. These are very healthy as  they are  made of sesame seeds, soybeans, oatmeal, barley, buckwheat, peas, kidney beans, mung beans, rice and I don’t remember what else, and they are very mild in flavor while being very satisfying. Again, these are really easy to carry in a purse or diaper bag and that makes for a great snack, especially if we get stuck in traffic for hours.

What snacks do your toddlers enjoy?