No restaurant? No problem. Five international street foods to try in and near Indy

Armed with a ravenous appetite, an equally hungry companion and a small arsenal of over-the-counter digestive aids, I hit Saraga's inaugural international food festival over the weekend to sample street food from more than a dozen vendors representing cuisines from across the globe. Food trucks, caterers and Saraga food court restaurants hawked fast, handheld dishes commonly sold to hungry people on busy streets from Manila to Bogota.My partner and I ate our way across the jam-packed parking lot until vendors ran out of food and a rainstorm sent people hustling to their cars. After much chewing and consideration, I found five street foods worth seeking out.

Lumpia, Bay Area Bistro

This Filipino take on spring rolls features shredded carrots and cabbage and ground pork swaddled snugly in a paper-thin wonton wrapper deep-fried to shattering crispiness. The meat and vegetables serve as a wholesome, refreshing counterpart to the crunchy, chewy wonton.

Lumpia alone aren’t explosively flavorful, but they’re an ideal dipping vessel for agre dulce, a sweet and sour sauce that seemingly creates more space in your stomach to munch down yet another stick of fried dough. If the world’s brightest minds convened in a laboratory to design a maximally portable, dippable street food, it would probably look a lot like this.

Price: $10 for five. You can find more Filipino street food at Bay Area Bistro at the Fishers Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon through the end of September. You can follow their Instagram for more updates.

Burned ends, Polish Cottage "Polska Chata"

I’m all for optimizing an already spectacular dish, and that’s exactly what burned ends are. Thick slices of Polish sausage are grilled to a light char, then drizzled in house barbecue sauce and served with three slices of sourdough bread.

The smoky, savory meat is a perfect canvas for the sauce, which packs a sweet, tangy punch without upstaging the main event. Despite all the raised voices, barking dogs and portable generators roaring across the parking lot, I could still hear the joyous pop of the sausage every time I bit down.

One could argue the abundance of grease and sauce makes eating on the go unfeasible. But fortune favors the bold, and I felt very fortunate despite my sticky orange hands.

Price: $12. Polish Cottage sells Polish street food at markets throughout Marion and Hamilton Counties. They regularly update their Facebook page with upcoming appearances.

Esquites, El Chavo Mexican Restaurant

This Mexican street food staple is a cup of boiled corn — I assume the true Hoosiers have read all they need already — topped with sour cream, mayonnaise, crumbled cotija cheese, chile powder and a lime wedge. Mix them with your spoon, and they play together like a jazz ensemble. As duets go, chile and lime are an absolute showstopper.

The chile powder bites your lips before creamy mayo and sour cream smother the heat to a pleasant sizzle. Sweet, toothsome corn bursts between your teeth, and a hearty squeeze of lime juice pumps even more life into an already vibrant dish.

Price: $4. El Chavo Mexican Restaurant serves Mexican, Honduran and Nicaraguan cuisine year-round in the Saraga food court at 8448 Center Run Dr in Castleton.

In other food news: Rise’n Roll Bakery to close downtown, Broad Ripple stores, open two other stores

Beef bulgogi, So Gong Dong Tofu and Korean BBQ

I like to think I’m a complex, nuanced individual. Then I obliterate a Styrofoam box of marinated beef and remind myself I am a painfully simple man.

Lean strips of steak are grilled until tender with carrots and onions, then served alongside steamed white rice and kimchi. The rice has a pleasant texture between fluffy and firm, and the kimchi is earthy but not too pungent.

The star is the bulgogi. The soy-based marinade makes the meat so aggressively savory that I felt my mouth water as I chewed. Soft onions and a whisper of sugar bring just enough sweetness to lighten the heft of all that umami. We’ll never know what was in the glowing briefcase in “Pulp Fiction,” but cracking open my disposable carry-out box gave me a hunch.

Price: $10. SGD Tofu and Korean BBQ serves Korean cuisine in the Saraga food court year-round at 8448 Center Run Dr in Castleton.

La Colombianita, Arepiz

The arepa’s golden toasted exterior crunches defiantly as you bite into it, giving way to delightfully fluffy masarepa corn dough. Tender shredded beef, sliced sausage and creamy cheese conceal a sweet minefield of corn kernels. Each mouthful seemingly warms your entire body. It's pure comfort wrapped in tinfoil.

There’s no way you should be able to safely eat the overstuffed, practically oozing arepa hunched over in your car, but that’s exactly what I did when rain forced my final snack and I to seek shelter.

Remarkably, the saucy behemoth did not leave a single drop on my incredibly expensive upholstery as I devoured it in a state of absolute bliss, listening to raindrops pound the roof of my 2004 Toyota Camry.

Price: $10. Arepiz sells Colombian street food at select events near Indianapolis and at the Summit community center on 1025 W Rudisill Blvd in Fort Wayne. You can order online at arepizindiana.com and visit owner Aaron Robles' Facebook page for updates.

You can contact Bradley at bhohulin@gannett.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @BradleyHohulin.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 5 international street foods worth trying around Indianapolis