Burmese

Myanmar's cooking, distinct from its Thai and Indian neighbours. Mohinga (catfish-and-noodle breakfast soup) is the unofficial national dish; lahpet thoke (fermented tea leaf salad) sits at every social gathering. Hallmarks: fish sauce, ngapi (fermented shrimp paste), turmeric, fried-shallot oil, raw garlic, tamarind, and the love of crispy-fried things - split peas, garlic, shallots - added at the table.

17 recipes

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Desserts 3 recipes

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Recipes

Beef Si Byan

A Burmese curry from the country's Indian-origin community, sitting somewhere between a Madras and a Burmese ohn-no in spice profile. You marinate chunks of beef chuck or shin in turmeric, fish sauce and salt while you fry onions in oil until they're deep brown - that long onion fry is the foundation. The beef browns in the same oil, then ginger-garlic paste, paprika and chilli powder go in, then tomato and water turn it into a stew. Two hours of slow simmer until the meat falls apart at a fork. The signature finish is the see byan, a deep red-orange oil slick that rises to the top of the curry as it reduces, which is what the dish is named for. Eaten with rice or paratha, and a small bowl of pickled vegetable on the side.

3 hours 20 minutes Serves4

Lahpet Thoke

Myanmar's national salad and one of the most distinctive dishes in Southeast Asia: a tossed plate built around lahpet, fermented tea leaves with a sour-bitter pungency unlike anything else you've eaten. You start with pre-pickled tea leaves (sold at South-East Asian grocers; rinse to mellow if they're very sour), pile on shredded white cabbage and diced tomato for crunch and sweetness, then a generous handful of crispy fried things: fried garlic, fried peanuts, fried yellow split peas, sesame seeds. Fish sauce and lime juice toss it all together. Each spoonful is a contrast of soft-bitter tea against crunchy fried things and bright lime. Eaten as a snack at a teashop, an appetiser before dinner, or at the close of a meal as a sign of welcome and reconciliation.

20 minutes Serves4

Mohinga

Myanmar's national breakfast, the rice-noodle soup that streetcorner stalls in every city open before dawn for. You cook catfish (or any firm white fish) in spiced water first, then shred the cooked flesh and turn the cooking liquid into the soup base. A spice paste of shallot, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and turmeric fries in oil; a chickpea-flour slurry thickens the broth to a silky consistency; banana-stem (or hearts of palm or cabbage as substitute) softens in. Fish sauce, paprika and lime balance the seasoning. Rice vermicelli portions into bowls, broth ladles over, and a heavy plate of garnishes arrives at the table: crispy split peas, halved boiled eggs, lime wedges, fresh herbs, chilli flakes. Each diner builds the bowl to their own taste. The morning meal of Myanmar.

1 hour 30 minutes Serves6

Ohn No Khao Swè

Myanmar's coconut-chicken noodle soup, the dish closest in spirit to a Thai khao soi but with its own Burmese identity. You poach chicken thighs in stock with shallot, garlic, ginger and turmeric for twenty-five minutes, lift them out and shred the meat. The stock cooks down with coconut milk, fish sauce and paprika, thickened with a slurry of chickpea flour and water into a silky soup. Yellow egg noodles cook separately. Everything piles into the bowl at the end: noodles first, soup ladled over, shredded chicken in the middle, then heaping garnishes (sliced shallot, crispy fried shallot, halved boiled egg, lime wedges, cilantro, chilli flakes). The garnishes are half the dish; eat with chopsticks in one hand and a spoon in the other.

1 hour 15 minutes Serves4

Sanwin Makin

The Burmese semolina cake that turns up at every holiday and family gathering, the dessert that locals will tell you their grandmother made best. You toast coarse semolina in butter and ghee until it's lightly fragrant, then cook it with coconut milk and water into a thick porridge. Sugar dissolves in, eggs whisk in off the heat (off the heat is critical; hot semolina will scramble them), and the mixture pours into a baking tin with a final sprinkle of poppy seeds and raisins. Bake until set, then finish with a short hit under the grill that gives the cake its defining deep mahogany, slightly bitter, crackling top. Sliced into squares and eaten with tea.

1 hour 5 minutes Serves12

Wet Tha Hin Lay

The Burmese pork curry, the simplest of the country's red-oil-slick curries and the dish that turns up in every household's lunch rotation. You marinate pork briefly in turmeric, salt and a splash of fish sauce, then cook onions hard in oil until they're deep golden brown - this is the colour and depth of the curry, and rushing it leaves the dish pale. The pork browns in the same oil, then garlic, ginger, paprika and chilli powder go in, then tomato softens. Water covers the meat and the curry simmers covered for an hour until tender, then uncovers for the se-byan stage that returns the oil to the surface in the characteristic red-orange slick. Served with white rice, a side of balachaung, and a green vegetable.

2 hours 20 minutes Serves4