As with for example Malaysia, the wide ethnic mix of Myanmar leads to a wide range of foods. Along with the Karens, Shans, Thais, Mon etc that contribute towards the indigenous mix there have also been, during the British rule large numbers of Indian and Nepalese, and in more recent times Chinese immigrants, and so all those differing cuisines are represented. Furthermore most of these varying influences have also contributed to what may be termed ‘standard Burmese fare’. Its geographical location has determined its cuisine and whilst it may be an over-simplification to describe the local food as half way between Thai and Indian it is certainly valid to a certain extent.
Mandalay lunch
Rice and wheat noodles are popular and the excellent mohinga is an absolute classic and very tasty breakfast/brunch option consisting of rice noodles in a mild, usually fish-based, broth and reminded us vaguely of a Malaysian laksa. Elsewhere it’s rice eaten with a variety of vegetable dishes, mildly spicy dips and a main dish of either fish, chicken or mutton. (The latter being far more common in Burma than beef or pork.) The main dish is often curried but lacks either the spiciness of Thai dishes or the richness of Indian curries.
That said the dishes are generally very mild – a major advantage to some visitors – though chili dips or condiments are always available. A frequent complaint by tourists is that the food is typically very oily as with much south Asian food but the film of oil actually acts to insulate the dishes from bacteria and contamination so it’s probably worth putting up with a bit of grease!
Inle market stall
A couple of aspects where Burmese grub does diverge considerably from other S. E. Asian fare is in the wide use of pulses – beans and nuts – and the commonly eaten Indian type ‘breads’ – rotis, parathas, nans etc. Dahl or lentil soup is a common accompaniment to many meals and rotis etc are standard tea shop snacks. Peanuts, lentils, sesame, chickpeas, soya beans are all common which makes us wonder even more why these relatively easily grown and nutritious crops are ignored in most of S. E. Asia. (Thais have almost an aversion to any pulses with just a few kidney beans finding their way into occasional desserts!?) It’s a cultural thing not climatic since soya beans are widely grown for soya sauce whilst in Burma they are fried as side dish or even included in fried rice for example.
Also popular in Burmese cooking are the excellent salads – concoctions of fresh vegetables, herbs, lime juice, chilies and frequently plenty of nuts again but one more dish we’d like to mention before moving on to the regional cuisines is the highly unusual la-hpeq dhouq- a unique kind of savoury dessert made from (partly fermented we think) mashed tea leaves mixed with various nuts, sesame seeds, roasted coconut etc which might sound odd but which personally we found highly addictive and can’t wait to eat some more!
Our friend Moe and an Intha feast
The various regional offerings also makes eating in Myanmar a lot of fun and whilst we missed the Mon food and slightly spicier dishes of the south, the Shan and Intha, (Lake Inle), were excellent. Intha food clearly reflected the environment with fish from the lake and tomatoes from the floating gardens being important ingredients and with, logically, fried fish in tomato sauce being their signature dish.
Living in Thailand we felt more familiar with the Shan (Tai Yai) dishes though again, similar to northern Thai as they often were, the dishes lacked the ferociousness of Thai dishes and pulses were again predominate, especially the ubiquitous Pe Pok- a fermented, dried soya bean paste that seemed to be incorporated into many dishes or just served as a side dip.
Pa-O women selling 'pe pok' in Aung Ban market
And below a typical Shan style meal in, if we remember correctly, Kalaw. You choose the main dish then an unlimited supply of vegetable and side dishes comes free with it!
Great Shan restaurant with unpronounceable name in Kalaw.
So…probably not a place where you’re going to lose weight but we reckon a country where you going to enjoy the food immensely! As usual our emphasis will be on the local, more authentic eateries and on sampling the different fare from different parts of the country. There’ll be a couple of more tourist style places to ‘break you in’ and as we always like to do, a few ‘free meals’ when you can select your own lunch or dinner destination if you want to vary things with a Chinese, Indian or even Western option?
Oh and by the way the beer’s great: – Mandalay Beer was our fave – a light, smooth drop that went down very well and can be found in the charmingly named ‘beer stations’! (The Inle lake wine was so astonishing it deserves it’s own post so more on that wonder later!
Cheers!
