Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival

You'll need a thicker straw.

Nothing was cooked on site — at least not this year, the 29th for this festival that also featured music, martial art and folk art demonstrations, and two long rows of information tables — so dishes that are best served cold attracted the most customers. The longest line might have been at the table that served up three versions of banh mi, the familiar Vietnamese heroes, though Chinatown Ice Cream Factory could easily have surpassed them if they'd offered something other than pandan cupcakes.

I gravitated toward the Taiwanese booth, which served two versions of the "jelly" drink like the one above (pint; $2); this one combined almond and the flavor of the native aiyu fig. At the Malaysian table, a chewy, coconutty, beef rendang ($2 per scoop) was enjoyable even at air temperature; another customer, expecting house guests from Singapore, bought a boxful to be heated and served with roti the following day. Banana fritters may have been the best of the fried and skewered items ($2 per stick, or two for $3) that also included corn fritters, fish balls, and crab balls; I would have loved to try the disclike shrimp fritters ($1) fresh out of the fryer.

Though free cookies and candies sat at many tables, in New York you'd never want to pass up a homemade version of the glutinous rice treats called kueh (Kway; $1); the ones below may have been flavored with almond and rosewater.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
East 47th St. (First-Second Aves.)
Early May