Cuisine of Burma

The cuisine of Myanmar (or Burma) has been influenced by the respective cuisines of China, India and Thailand. However, in spite of this, Burmese cuisine has unique preparation techniques and distinct flavours unlike any other. Different regions of Burma have different variations of "standard" dishes. Use of seafood is more prevalent along coastal cities such as Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, Mawlamyaing (formerly Moulmein), Mergui and Dawei, while meat and poultry are more commonly used in landlocked cities like Mandalay. Fish and shrimp from rivers, lakes and streams, however, have traditionally been the main source of protein in a variety of ways, fresh, salted whole or filleted, salted and dried, made into a salty paste, or fermented sour and pressed. Beef and pork, although certainly not forbidden, are avoided by many Buddhists and Muslims respectively. Vegetarian dishes are also common, especially during the Buddhist lent ("Wa-dwin"), a three-month Rains Retreat. During this time, only two meals (i.e breakfast and lunch) are consumed before midday to observe the fasting rules("u bouk saunk") and abstainance from meat ("thet that lut") is observed by many devout Buddhists.

White rice or Basmati rice is regarded as the main staple and is usually served with curry. Paw San Mhwe is the most popular rice used in Burma and is rated as high as the Thai Fragrant Rice or Basmati rice. Today, Myanmar is the world's number six producer of rice, though less exported and not guaranteed even domestic supplies. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7391812.stm BBC NEWS | Business | Burma cyclone raises rice prices ] ]

Burmese cuisine also contains a variety of salads ("a thouk") centered on one major ingredient, ranging from rice, noodles, and glass vermicelli, to potato, ginger, tomato, kaffir lime, lahpet (pickled tea), and ngapi (fish paste). These salads have become popular fast-foods in Burmese cities.

Here is a popular expression that sums up the traditional favourites:::" Of all fruit the best is the mango, of all meat the best is the pork, and of all leaves it's the lahpet (tea)."

Notable dishes

Because a standardized system of romanisation for spoken Burmese does not exist, pronunciations of the following dishes in modern standard Burmese approximated using IPA are provided.

* Ba zun thouk (my|ပုဇွန်သုတ်‌ IPA| [bəzun θouʔ] ), pickled prawn salad
* Gyin thouk (my|ဂျင်းသုတ်‌ IPA| [dʒin θouʔ] ), ginger salad with sesame seeds
* Hkauk swè thouk (my|​ေခါက်ဆွဲသုတ်‌ IPA| [kʰauʔswɛ θouʔ] ), wheat noodle salad with dried shrimps, shredded cabbage and carrots, dressed with fried peanut oil, fish sauce and lime
* Htamin thouk (my|ထမင်းသုတ်‌ IPA| [tʰamin θouʔ] ), rice salad with tomato puree, potato,glass noodle, toasted chickpea flour, crushed toasted dried fermented beancake,crushed dried shrimp, crushed dried chilli, garlic and dressed with cooked peanut oil, fish sauce, lime or tamarind and coriander
* Htoe mont (my|ထုိးမုန့်‌့ IPA| [tʰoumoun̰] ), glutinous rice cake with raisins, cashews and coconut shavings
* Kat kyi hnyat (my|ကပ်​ေကျးညှပ်‌ IPA| [kaʔdʒiɲ̥ɛʔ] , lit. 'cut with scissors'), a southern coastal dish (from the Dawei area) of rice noodles with a variety of seafood, land meats, raw bean sprouts, beans and fried eggs comparable to pad thai
* Kya yoe hinga (my|ကြာ ရိုးဟင်းခါး IPA| [tʃajou hinga] ), lotus roots in clear chicken or fish broth
* Kya zan hin, glass noodle ကြာဆံဟင်း soup with chicken, wood-ear mushrooms, dried flowers, onions, boiled egg, garnished with coriander, thin-sliced onions, crushed dried chilli and a dash of lime (Mandalay)
* Kya zan hinga (my|ကြာဆဲဟင်းခါး IPA| [dʒazan hinga] ), glass noodle soup with dried shrimp, wood-ear mushrooms, egg, dried flowers, onions (Yangon)
* Kyauk kyaw (my|​ေကျာက်​ေကြာ IPA| [tʃaoʔtʃau] ), agar jelly usually set in two layers with coconut milk
* Kyay-oh (my|​ေကြးအုိး IPA| [tʃeiou] ), vermicelli noodles in soup with pork offal and greens
* Let thouk sone (IPA| [leʔ θousoun] ), similar to "htamin thouk" with shredded green papaya, shredded carrot, ogonori sea moss and often wheat noodles
* Mohinga (my|မုန့်ဟင်းခါး IPA| [mounhinga] ), the unofficial national dish of rice vermicelli in fish broth with onions, garlic, ginger, lemon grass and sliced tender core of banana-stem, served with boiled eggs, fried fish cake ("nga hpe") and fritters ("akyaw")
* Mont let saung (my|မုန့်လက်​ေဆာင်း IPA| [moun̰leʔsʰaun] ), tapioca balls, glutinous rice, grated coconut and toasted sesame with jaggery syrup in coconut milk
* Nan gyi thouk (my|နန်းကြီးသုတ်‌ IPA| [nandʒi θouʔ] ) or "Mont di", thick rice noodle salad with chickpea flour, chicken, fish cake ("nga hpe"), onions, coriander, spring onions, crushed dried chilli, dressed with fried crispy onion oil, fish sauce and lime
* Nan bya gyi thouk (my|နန်းကြီးသုန်‌), as above with tagliatelle
* Ngapi gyet (my|ငပိချက် IPA| [ŋapi dʒɛʔ] ), fermented spicy fish paste or salted fish curried with onions, tomatoes, garlic, chilli and coriander served with "to za ya", vegetables fresh or boiled, on the side
* Ngapi gyaw (my|ငပိ​ေကြာ်‌ IPA| [ŋapi tʃau] ), fried version with dried shrimp, onions, garlic and dried chilli
* Ohn no hkauk swè (my|အုန်းနို့​ေခါက်ဆွဲဲ IPA| [ounnouʔ kʰauʔswɛ] ), curried chicken and wheat noodles in a coconut milk broth similar to Malaysian laksa and Chiang Mai's khao soi
* Sanwin makin (my|ဆနွင်းမကင်း‌ IPA| [sanwin makin] ), semolina cake with raisins, walnuts and poppy seeds
* Shwe gyi mont (my‌​ေရွှကြည်မုန့် IPA| [ʃwei dʒi moun̰] ), hardened semolina (wheat) porridge with poppy seeds
* Shwe yin aye (my|​ေရွှရင်​ေအး IPA| [ʃwei jin ei] ), agar jelly, tapioca and sago in coconut milk
* Shauk thee thouk, sliced lemon or kaffir lime (no pith or rind), toasted chickpea flour, crushed roasted peanut, crushed dried shrimp, crushed dried chilli, baked fish paste, cooked oil with onions (goes very well and often served with kya zan hinga)

Chinese-inspired

* Asein gyaw, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, green beans, baby corn, cornflour or tapioca starch, tomatoes, squid sauce
* Bè gin (my|ဘဲကင်း‌ IPA| [be kin] ), roast duck
* Dim sum, meat/fish/prawn/crab/sausage/egg/sea weeds, flour, flavor enhancer
* Hpet htouk (lit. leaf wrap), meat, pastry paper, ginger, garlic, pepper powder, salt, essentially the same as potstickers
* Htamin gyaw (my|ထမင်း​ေကျာ်‌ IPA| [tʰa min tʃau] ), fried rice with boiled peas ("pè byouk"),the poor man's favourite breakfast
* Kaw yei hkauk swè (my|ကော္‌​ေရခောက္‌ဆ္ဝဲ IPA| [kɔ̀ jèi kʰauʔ swɛ̀] ), noodles and curried duck (or pork) in broth with eggs
* La mont (my|လမုန့်‌့ IPA| [la̰ moun̰] ), lit. mooncake, an oily disk-shaped cake filled with either sugar or sweet bean paste
* Meeshay, rice noodles with pork and/or chicken, bean sprouts, rice flour gel, rice flour fritters, dressed with soy sauce, salted soybean, rice vinegar, fried peanut oil, chilli oil, and garnished with crispfried onions, crushed garlic, coriander, and pickled daikon/mustard greens
* Mi swan (my|မီဆွမ်း‌ IPA| [mi swa] ), extra thin noodles in light broth with chicken or duck
* Panthay hkauk swè (my|ပန်း​ေသး​ေခါက်ဆွဲ IPA| [panθei kʰauʔ swɛ] ), halal noodles with chicken and spices, often served by Chinese Muslims
* Pao-see (my|​ေပါက်စီ IPA| [pauʔ sʰi] ), steamed buns filled with either pork and egg or sweet bean paste
* San byouk (my|ဆံပြုတ်‌ IPA| [sʰan pjouʔ] ), a type of rice congee with fish, chicken or duck often fed to invalids, with "mi swan" a favourite alternative
* Si gyet hkauk swè (my|ဆီကြက်​ေခါက်ဆွဲဲ IPA| [sʰi tʃʰɛʔ kʰauʔ swɛ] ), wheat noodles with duck or pork, fried garlic oil, soy sauce and chopped spring onions
* Wettha douk htoe, pork offal, light soy sauce, ginger, chilli sauce, garlic

Indian-inspired

* Dan bauk (my|ဒန်​ေပါက်‌ IPA| [dan pauʔ] ), Burmese-style biryani with either chicken or mutton served with mango pickle, fresh mint and green chili
* Fried chappati, crispy and blistered, with boiled peas ("pè byouk"), a popular breakfast next to nan bya
* Halawa, a snack made of sticky rice, butter, coconut milk, from Indian dessert halwa
* Hkauk swè, plain noodles, chili powder, creamed coconut, onions, chicken, salt and green chili.
* Hpaluda, similar to the Indian dessert falooda, rose water, milk, jello, coconut jelly, coconut shavings, sometimes served with custard and ice cream
* Htat ta ya (IPA| [tʰaʔ tə ja] ), lit. "a hundred layers", fried flaky multilayered paratha with either a sprinkle of sugar or "pè byouk"
* Htawbat htamin, rice made with butter and mostly eaten with chicken curry.
* Malaing loun (my|မလုိင်လုံး IPA| [mə lain loun] ), Burmese-style gulab jamun
* Nan bya (IPA| [nan bja] ),နံပြား Burmese style naan buttered or with "pè byouk", also with mutton soup
* Palata (IPA| [pə la θa] ), Burmese style paratha with egg or mutton
* Samusa (my|ဆမူဆာ IPA| [sʰa mu sʰa̰] ), Burmese-style samosa with mutton and onions served with fresh mint, green chilli,onions and lime
* Samusa thouk (my|ဆမူဆာသုတ်‌ IPA| [sʰa mu sʰa̰ θouʔ] ), samosa salad with onions, cabbage, fresh mint, potato curry, masala, chili powder, salt and lime
* Theezon chin yei, lit. vegetable all- sorts sour broth, with drumstick, lady's finger, egg plant, green beans, potato, onions, ginger, dried chilli, boiled egg, dried salted fish, fish paste and tamarind

=Shan-inspired=

* Htamin gyin (my|ထမင်းချင်း‌ IPA| [tʰa min tʃʰin] ), a rice, tomato and potato or fish salad kneaded into round balls dressed and garnished with crisp fried onion in oil, tamarind sauce, coriander and spring onions often with garlic, Chinese chives roots ("ju myit"), fried whole dried chili, grilled dried fermented beancakes ("pè bouk"} and fried dried topu ("topu gyauk kyaw") on the side
* Lahpet thouk (my|လက်ဖက်သုတ်) IPA| [le peʔ θouʔ] ), a salad of pickled tea leaves with fried peas, peanuts and garlic, toasted sesame, fresh garlic, tomato, green chili, crushed dried shrimps, preserved ginger and dressed with peanut oil, fish sauce and lime
* Papaya salad
* Shan tohpu (my|ရှမ်းတိုဖူး IPA| [ʃan tou pu] ), a type of tofu made from chickpea flour or yellow split pea eaten as fritters ("tohpu gyaw") or in a salad ("tohpu thouk"), also eaten hot before it sets as "tohpu byawk" aka "tohpu nway" and as fried dried topu ("tohpu gyauk kyaw")
* Shan hkauk swè, rice noodles with chicken or minced pork, onions, garlic, tomatoes, chili, crushed roasted peanuts, young vine of mangetout, served with "topu gyaw" or "topu nway" and pickled mustard greens ("monnyingyin")
* Wet thachin, preserved minced pork in rice
* Wet tha hmyit chin (my|‌ IPA| [wɛʔ θa m̥jiʔ tʃʰin] ), pork with sour bamboo shoots

Mon-inspired

* Thingyan Rice - is a dish of rice (fully boiled) in candle-smelt water served with mango salad fry.
* Thamanae – is served as a dessert made from glutinous rice, coconut scratch and peanut are included.
* Banana pudding – is a dessert made from banana boiled in coconut milk with sugar.
* Wet mohinga – is the same as mohinga but vermicelli is served while in wet condition.
* Durian jam – is popular as Katut jam in the base of Kyaiktiyo Pagoda.
* Ngabaung doke – is a mixed vegetable and prawn, wrapped in morinda leaf and then banana leaf outside.
* Semolina cake (Sanwin makin)– is a dessert cake make from semolina and sugar, butter, coconut.
* Pennywort leaf salad -

Rakhine-inspired

* Monte-de - an extremely popular and economical fast food dish where rice vermicelli are either eaten with some condiments and soup prepared from nga-pi, or as a salad with powdered fish and some condiments
* Kyar-zun thoke - glass vermicelli salad with curried duck eggs and potatoes
* Ngapi Daung - an extremely spicy condiment made from pounded ngapi and green chili
* Khayun thee nga chauk chet - Brinjal cooked lightly with a small amount of oil, with dried fish and chilli
* Ngha-pyaw-thi-bohn - bananas stewed in milk and coconut, and garnished with sesame. Eaten either as a dish during meals, or as a dessert.
* Saw-hlaing Monte - a baked sweet, made from millet, raisins, coconut and butter
* Sut-hnan - millet cooked in sweet milk with raisins

tarches

The most common starch (staple food) in Myanmar is white rice. Glutinous rice called "kauk hnyin" is also very popular including the purple variety known as "nga cheik" especially as a breakfast dish. Various types of noodles are commonly used in salads and soups or fried. Vermicelli noodles and rice noodles are often used in soups, while thick rice and wheat noodles are used in salads. Palata, a flaky fried flatbread is often eaten with curried meats while nan-bya, a baked flatbread is eaten with any Indian dishes. Another favourite is aloo poori - puffed-up fried breads eaten with potato curry.

Ingredients

Ingredients used in Burmese dishes are often fresh. Many fruits are used in conjunction with vegetables in many dishes. The Burmese eat a great variety of vegetables and fruits, and all kinds of meat.

Fruits

Myanmar has a wide range of fruits, and most are of tropical origin. However, some notable Western fruits such as strawberries are also popular. Durian, guava and others are commonly served as desserts. Other fruits include mango, banana, jackfruit, plum, lychee, papaya, pomelo, water melon, pomegranate, mangosteen, sugar-apple and rambutan.

Eating customs

Traditionally, Burmese eat their meals with dishes on a low table, while sitting on a bamboo mat, and dishes are served more or less at the same time. A typical meal would include steaming hot rice as the staple, a curried freshwater fish or dried/salted fish dish, if affordable a curried meat or poultry dish instead, soup ("hingyo") which if sour is called "chinyei", and fresh or boiled vegetables to go with a salty dish almost invariably a curried sauce of pickled fish ("ngapi yeigyo") in Lower Burma. Fritters such as gourd or onions in batter as well as fish or dried tohpu crackers are extra.

Out of respect, the eldest diners are always served first before the rest join in; even when the elders are absent, the first morsel of rice from the pot is scooped and put aside as an act of respect to one's parents, a custom known as "oo cha" (lit. first serve). Burmese people eat with their right hand, forming the rice into a small ball with only the fingertips and mixing this with various morsels before popping it into their mouths. Chopsticks and a Chinese style spoon are used for noodle dishes, although noodle salads are more likely to be eaten with just a spoon. Knives and forks are used rarely in homes but will always be provided for guests and are available in restaurants and hotels. Drinks are not often served with the meal and, instead, the usual liquid accompaniment is in the form of a light broth or consomme served from a communal bowl. However, the Burmese beverage of choice is light green tea ("yei nwei gyan"; IPA| [jei n̥wei dʒun] ).

Influences

The countries that border Myanmar, especially India, China and Thailand - have influenced Burmese cuisine. Indian influences are found in Burmese versions of dishes such as samosas and biryani, and Indian curries, spices and breads such as nan (naan) and palata (paratha). Ethnic Indians have a monopoly on such dishes. Chinese influence in Burmese cuisine is shown in the use of ingredients like bean curd and soya sauce, various noodles as well as in stir-frying techniques. Fried insects are eaten as snacks as in neighbouring Thailand and Laos.

Gallery

References

*Mi Mi Khaing, "Cook and Entertain the Burmese Way". Rangoon, 1975