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Part One: Food in Myanmar

The undiscovered treasures of the Land of Gold are its culinary gemstones.

By Wendy Hutton

The food of Burma, "The Land of Gold" of ancient Indian and Chinese manuscripts, is one of the least known Asian cuisines. This is more a result of the country's period of self-imposed isolation than the intrinsic quality of the food itself. However, as Burma—or Myanmar as it is now officially called—opens its doors to visitors and international business, more people are discovering its intriguingly different cuisine.

Sitting between India and China, two powerful nations with strong cultural traditions, and sharing borders with Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand, Burma's beginning dates back some 2,500 years, when Tibeto-Burman-speaking people moved from Tibet and Yunnan into the northern part of the country. Kingdoms rose and fell over the centuries, many different tribes arrived and established themselves, and various Western powers set up coastal trading posts.

The British gained control over the country little by little, annexing it to British India, until the last king was dethroned in 1886. Burma regained its independence in 1946, becoming a socialist republic in 1974. In 1979, the ruling authorities changed the name to Myanmar.

Once known for its vast wealth in teak, rubies, jade and rice, Myanmar has in recent times set about developing into a modern nation. Yet it is the glittering golden stupas, the stone remains of ancient kingdoms, the timeless movement of wooden boats along the giant Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River, the bustle and colour of local markets and the charm and gracious generosity of its people which remain in the visitor's mind long after departing.

Owing to the prevalence of Chinese, Indian, Thai and Western restaurants in tourist hotels, some visitors leave Myanmar without experiencing the local cuisine. Full of flavour, healthful, sometimes hauntingly similar to neighbouring cuisines, at other times dramatically different, the food of Myanmar is not complex to prepare at home.

Based on rice with a range of tasty side dishes, salads, soups and condiments, Myanmar cuisine offers a wide choice of flavours. Although the vast majority of the population is Buddhist, they make a distinction between taking life and buying food which has already been caught or killed. In general, Myanmar's Muslims slaughter the cattle and catch fish, while pigs are reared by the Chinese.

French gourmet Alexander Dumas once remarked that the discovery of a new dish was as important as the discovery of a new constellation. How much more exciting, then, to discover an almost unknown cuisine. The food of Myanmar awaits you.

Fishermen on the picturesque Inle Lake drop large traps over shoals offish before spearing them through a hole in the top of the cage.

From the Delta, Plains and Mountains

Myanmar's dramatically varied terrain offers a range of regional flavours.

By Wendy Hutton and San Lwin

"Burma... is peopled by so many races that truly we know not how many... in no other area are the races so diverse, or the languages and dialects so numerous...". Thus wrote CM. Enriquez in Races of Burma in 1933. Although religion and tribal customs influence the cuisine of the people of this polyglot land—in which today's specialists have identified 67 separate indigenous groups—it is perhaps the terrain and climate which have had the greatest effect on regional cuisines. These factors determine the basic produce and therefore influence the dishes prepared by the people living in each area.

A Rakhine woman dries rice crackers in the sun.

The Burmese tend to classify their country into three broad areas: what used to be referred to as "Lower Burma", the humid Ayeyarwady delta around Yangon, and the land stretching far south into the Isthmus of Kra; "Middle Burma", the central zone around Mandalay, ringed by mountain ranges and thus the driest area in all of Southeast Asia, and "Upcountry", the mountainous regions which include the Shan Plateau and Shan Hills to the east, the Chin Hills to the west and the ranges frequented by the Kachin tribe to the far north.

The long southern coastal strip of "Lower Burma", Tanintharyi, is washed by the waters of the Andaman Sea and shares a border with Thailand. This region is rich in all kinds of seafood, which is understandably preferred to meat or poultry. While people in other areas of Myanmar eat freshwater fish caught in the rivers, lakes and irrigation canals, this coastal region offers a cornucopia of marine fish, crabs, squid, prawns, lobsters, oysters and shellfish.

Myeik, the main southern port (once known as Mergui) is an important center for dried seafood such as shrimps, fish and jellyfish, as well as for the precious birds' nests made from the saliva of two varieties of swiftlet. Bird's nest, however, does not form part of the local diet but is traded—as it has been for centuries—with the Chinese for sale in traditional medicine shops and food stores.

Dishes from the lowland southern region are more likely to include coconut milk that those of other areas of the country. For example, the southern version of the banana leaf packets of chopped seasoned pork typical of central Myanmar and the Shan Hills contains fish rather than pork, and is enriched with coconut milk rather than stock.

Flowing in a general north-south direction for some 2,170 kilometres, the life-giving Ayeyarwady rises in the mountains of the far north, then branches into a maze of rivers and creeks that make up the delta—about 270 kilometres at its widest. This is the rice granary of the nation. Rice is the staple crop in Myanmar and is consumed not only for the main meals of the day but for snacks as well. It is eaten boiled, steamed and parched; in the form of dough or noodles; drunk as wine or distilled as spirits. The quality of the rice cultivated ranges from the stout, reddish kernels of the swidden plots to the slender, translucent grains favoured in many parts of the Shan State. Of the 8 million hectares of cereal crops under cultivation, rice accounts for 7½ million of these; the remainder is devoted to maize, wheat, millet and other cereal crops, cultivated for both the domestic and export markets. Oil crops such as sesame, sunflower and niger seeds are produced almost exclusively for domestic use.

Farmers sell turnips wholesale to middlemen and traders.

A combined coastal length of about 2,400 kilometres and a network of rivers, irrigation channels and estuaries, particularly in the Ayeyarwady delta region, yields a dazzling array of fresh- and saltwater fish, lobsters, prawns, shrimp and crabs. The Ayeyarwady delta supplies the bulk of freshwater fish, sold fresh, dried, fermented or made into the all-important ngapi, a dried fish or shrimp paste (similar to Thai kapi, Malaysian belacan and Indonesian trassi). Not surprisingly, people living in this region also make abundant use of dried prawns as a seasoning for soups, sauces, salads and countless other dishes.

To the west of the Ayeyarwady is its most important tributary, the Chindwin River. This river flows along the Chin Hills which form a natural border between Myanmar and India and which are the source, not only of fine apples, but also the smooth-textured, sweet and tender meat of a species of half-wild, free-ranging cattle called gayal or mithun. In general, though, cattle and water buffaloes are raised as draught animals rather than for consumption.

East of the Chindwin-Ayeyarwady confluence, a trio of rivers race down from the Shan Plateau to the Ayeyarwady, where they are harnessed to a system of weirs and canals constructed in the 11th century to allow multicropping. Further east, the mighty, rumbustious arid mostly unnavigable Thanlwin rises in China, eventually pouring into the Andaman Sea. The Sittaung has its mouth a little further west of the Thanlwin and flows into the Bay of Martaban. Market gardens spring up on its alluvial banks after the monsoon has retreated and freshwater fisheries are set up along its drainage area.

The weekly floating market at Ywama village, Inle Lake, is a colourful affair.

Working in the paddy fields with the pagodas of Amarapura in the distance. The rituals associated with agriculture and religion are the fundamental elements of Myanmar life.

Arakan, now known as Rahkine, is a flat strip of land facing the Bay of Bengal on the west coast of Myanmar, sharing its northern border with Bangladesh. The people of this once proud, independent kingdom have traded with Indian merchants for centuries, and a certain amount of inter-marriage has left its mark in their skin colouring, which is darker than that of most Burmese. Although the majority of Rakhines are Buddhist, there is a sizable population of Muslims of Bengali descent who work as fishermen (something no devout Buddhist would do as it means taking life). Islam prohibits the eating of pork, and the cuisine of Arakan's Muslims is perhaps closer to that of neighbouring Bangladesh than to other areas of Myanmar.

Tuna, sardines, grouper, sharks, stingrays, oysters, mussels, prawns, shrimp, soft-shelled crab, sea cucumbers and even jellyfish, processed into think gelatinous slices, are harvested from this coastal strip, famous for its extensive beaches such as Ngapali, named after the well-known resort city of Naples. Touted as an aphrodisiac, the heart of sea urchins served chilled on squares of cucumber is relished in Ngapali. The eating of saltwater fish was only accepted by the majority of people as recently as 30 years ago; prior to that they were accustomed only to the taste of freshwater fish. Loach, featherback, hilsa, barb and freshwater catfish are preferred, while large fish such as sheat-fish, giant sea perch and large river catfish are usually sold in cuts. This preference for smaller fish has its roots in the Buddhist dislike of eating large animals.

Mandalay, where the last king of Burma ruled, is the cultural heart of the fiercely hot, dry plains of central Myanmar. Irrigation has made it possible to expand agriculture from dry rice (which depended on seasonal rain for its growth) to include crops such as peanut, sorghum, sesame, corn and many types of bean and lentil. Various fermented bean or lentil sauces and pastes are used as seasonings in this region, rather than the fermented fish and shrimp products typical of the south.

A wide variety of beans and pulses feature in Burmese cuisine.

A duck farmer tends to his flock by boat on the Ayeyarwady River at Amarapura.

Not having access to fresh seafood, the people of the central plains generally eat freshwater fish, with the occasional dish of pork or beef. One famous dish from this region is known as "Pork Packets". Finely chopped, seasoned pork is steamed in a banana leaf wrapper and served with a dip of crisp fried garlic, chilli powder, vinegar, salt and sugar.

The most populated "upcountry" area of Myanmar is the Shan Plateau, a region of mountain ranges and wide fertile valleys with a mean altitude of 1,050 metres above sea level, adjoining China, Laos and Thailand. Food preferences here are influenced not only by proximity to these countries, and to a strong Chinese element in the population, but by terrain and climate. A wide variety of foods is grown here: rice, wheat, soyabeans, sugar cane, niger seed, sunflowers, maize and peanuts; and vegetables including potatoes, cabbage, cucumber, cauliflower, celery, aubergine, hops, kale, kholrabi, lettuce, mustard, rape, roselle, tomatoes and chayote. Fruit from the Shan Plateau and the Kachin Hills includes oranges, tangerines, quinces, damson plums, peaches, pomegranates, persimmons, pears and strawberries. In Myanmar generally, the indigenous tropical and temperate flora has been supplemented by exotics such as the pineapple, tomato, chilli, tobacco, grapefruit, apple, loquat, lychee, sapodilla, sweetsop, soursop and rambutan.

Fish seldom features on local menus, unless it is dried fish or unless one happens to be in the region of Inle Lake, where freshwater fish is caught. There is a famous composite dish from this area called Kneaded Shan Rice which is based on rice mixed with cooked freshwater fish, onion and seasonings, pressed into shape and decorated with fried chilli, spring onions, and pieces of crisp, deep-fried buffalo skin.

The Shan are known for their love of pork, and also eat more beef than most other people in Myanmar. However, in Myanmar's more impoverished mountainous regions, all kinds of esoteric items such as ants, grasshoppers, dragonflies and insect larvae are eaten. The Shan and other tribes living in mountainous regions are more likely to use a wide range of wild greens gathered from shrubs and forests rather than vegetables cultivated in fields.

Soups from this region are more likely to be based on beef or pork stock than made with fish or dried prawns. The soups are not as clear as those found elsewhere in Myanmar, as they are often thickened with powdered soyabean. One example of this is the Shan version of Burmese noodles (kyaukswe), which is based on pork in a soup thickened with powdered soyabean, rather than made with chicken and coconut milk as in the rest of the country.

The hill rice grown on the Shan Plateau and in other upcountry regions is renowned for its variety and flavour, and unlike the rice of the central and lower regions, depends on seasonal rain rather than irrigation. Glutinous rice, however, is the preferred staple in much of the Shan country, as it is in neighbouring Laos and northeast Thailand.

All kinds of beans and lentils are grown in the Shan Plateau. They are not only eaten whole for protein, but are also fermented to make a seasoning paste, similar to the sauce made from lentils in central Myanmar.

Such products replace the fish-based seasonings, such as ngapi, or fermented pressed fish and dried prawns, which are found in the lowland coastal areas and delta region. The Shan tribes also make a fermented soya bean product similar to the Indonesian tempe, which is often dried, pounded and used as a seasoning.

A farmer winnows paddy in the Shan Plateau Rice is the staple crop in Myanmar.

Given this wealth of food products, it is not surprising that there were times in Myanmar's history when the king could demand and receive three hundred different dishes for every meal. This extravagant practice was ended in the 19th century by the pious King Mindon, patron of Buddhism's Fifth Great Council, who reduced the number of dishes to a modest one hundred. However, with the dismantling of the centrally planned socialist economy—resulting in the mushrooming of private agribusinesses, livestock farms and seafood farms-supermarkets in Myanmar will soon be displaying products far more varied than ever could have been imagined by the royal chefs of old.

Savoury coconut rice, a Mon dish of yellow rice topped with catfish, and Fried Rice with Peas are just three examples of rice dishes served in Myanmar.

A Complex Culinary Mosaic

Poised between India, China and Southeast Asia, Myanmar has developed its own unique cuisine.

By Wendy Hutton

Surrounded by India and Bangladesh to the northwest, China to the northeast, and Laos and Thailand to the southeast, Myanmar has inevitably been influenced by the culture and cuisine of its neighbours. Yet despite the proximity of these countries, as well as large-scale migration of Indians and Chinese during the British colonial period, the cuisine of Myanmar offers a unique range of dishes which deserves to be more widely known.

China has had a marked impact on the food of Southeast Asia, including that of Myanmar. This is especially true in terms of ingredients, which have now been thoroughly absorbed into the local cuisine. Noodles made from wheat, rice and mung peas are perhaps the most noticeable legacy of China. In Myanmar, these are found in noodle soups like mohinga, a spicy, fish-based dish with sliced banana heart that is virtually the national dish, Another widely available dish is chicken in spicy coconut gravy, ohn-no kyaukswe, which includes either wheat, rice or mung pea ("transparent") noodles.

Shan, Padaung and Pa-O people sell their wares at a colourful hilltribe market which rotates between five towns in the Shan State.

The soya bean, a native of China, appears in many guises in Myanmar: soy sauce; fermented soya beans (sometimes pressed into a cake and dried) and beancurd. Taking their cue from the Chinese, the Shan people near the border create a unique beancurd using chickpeas. Beansprouts, so popular in China, are made from several type of beans including soyabeans and mung peas; they are eaten fresh or left to ferment and eaten as a salad or condiment. Sesame seeds and dried black mushrooms are other frequently used Chinese ingredients. Chinese preserved sweet and sour fruits, such as tamarind, mango, Indian jujube and plum, are favourite snacks, although those made in Myanmar tend to be sourer than their Chinese counterparts and contain chilli to cater to local tastes.

The Indian influence on Myanmar food is seen in the widespread use of ingredients such as chick-peas, coriander seeds, cumin and turmeric. But whereas Indian cuisine relies on a complex blending of spices, Burmese food uses only a few dried spices, adding extra flavour with many fresh seasonings and condiments. Although chickpeas are eaten whole and made into a flour (besari), which is often used in batters, they appear most frequently in Burmese cuisine in the form of a nutty-tasting condiment, made by roasting and grinding the chickpeas to a powder.

Pungent curry leaves, popular in southern Indian cuisine, are used in some areas of Myanmar, as is the "drumstick", the seed pod of the horseradish or Moringa tree, eaten as a vegetable (in other parts of Southeast Asia, only the leaves are eaten).

Owing to the presence of a considerable number of people of ethnic Indian origin in rangoon (Yangon) and, to a lesser extent, in other major towns, Indian foods such as griddle-baked breads and almost achingly sweet cakes are widely available and popular with the Burmese. A popular Indian cake of semolina cooked with raisins is also made by the Burmese, although with a local touch in the form of coconut milk.

The food of Myanmar has, perhaps, more in common with its Southeast Asian neighbours, Laos and Thailand, than with India. The use of fermented shrimp and fish products such as dried paste, fermented fish in liquid, and clear fish sauce has parallels in both Laos and Thailand, where these ingredients largely replace salt and give a characteristic flavour to many dishes.

The sour fruit of the tamarind tree, most commonly used in the form of a dried pulp, is often preferred to vinegar or lime juice in many Burmese dishes. Fragrant lemongrass, the intensely perfumed kaffir lime leaf and galangal (a type of ginger) which give a wonderful aroma to so many Thai dishes are also popular in the southern region of Myanmar.

One passion which Burmese share with the people of Thailand and Laos is the love of a huge range of raw vegetables and leaves, both cultivated and wild, eaten with a pungent dipping sauce—a custom unknown in India or China. Burmese cooks have developed a range of dipping sauces, most of which contain chilli and are based around some form of dried or fermented shrimp. Soups, too, feature at virtually every main meal in Myanmar, as they do in Laos and Thailand.

Palm sugar, produced from the sap of the inflorescence of the aren palm, is another ingredient shared with Laos and Thailand, as is the preference for glutinous or "sticky" rice in parts of Myanmar bordering on these countries. Coconut milk, so prevalent in the cuisine of Southeast Asia, is also used in many Burmese dishes and for sweetmeats, while agar agar—a setting agent from seaweed—is also popular in Burmese desserts and drinks.

As with the people of Laos and Thailand, Burmese cooks frequently use pieces of banana leaf to wrap food before steaming—a technique not found in India.

Poised between two culinary giants, India and China, and inspired by the ingredients and styles of Southeast Asia, the cuisine of Myanmar has developed a unique personality of its own.

Introduced by the Chinese, noodles made from rice, wheat or mung peas are often used in "salads" and meal-in-one snacks bought from hawker stalls.

Nobody escapes a drenching during the water-throwing festival, or Thingyan, in Mandalay.

Festive Rice

When it comes to food for special occasions, the humble rice grain turns up in delicious new ways.

By San Lwin

Buddhism permeates every aspect of life in Myanmar and each of the twelve lunar months on the Burmese calendar is associated with at least one religious festival. In addition, there are special festivities and holidays associated with secular occasions and pre-Buddhist festivals such as the Taungbyon Nat festival, a week-long celebration with music, drinking and dance held near Mandalay. And in a land where the question "Have you eaten?" serves as a form of greeting, most festivals are celebrated with feasting. On these occasions, everyday fare is put aside in favour of special treats served only at the time of the festival, each of which is of particular significance. And, as befits the food which provides the basis of almost every meal, it is rice, prepared in a variety of ways, that is one of the main culinary attractions at every festival.

The first month of the year, Dagu, which usually begins somewhere in April, marks the time of transition into the new year. It is also the hottest time of the year. So, with temperatures soaring, the water festival is held, as it is in other Buddhist nations of Southeast Asia such as Thailand and Laos. Merrymaking is the order of the day: there is singing, dancing and, of course, water—sprinkled piously on images of Buddha and vigorously splashed, sprayed and thrown over everyone else.

Dotted here and there among all this good-humored uproar are quiet circles of girls and women. Sitting around boiling pots of water, either in festive pavilions or at home, the womenfolk roll balls of rice dough, shred coconut meat into thin threads and, of course, gossip. Now and then a score or more of dumplings are tipped from a plate into the boiling water where they sink down for a few moments, only to bob up again on the surface, at which point they are retrieved with a colander, arranged on a plate, dressed with shredded coconut and served to guests. As the guests enjoy the small dumplings stuffed with palm sugar, covert glances are cast at them by those sitting around the boiling pot. A few of the dumplings have been stuffed with hot green chillies and, at the sight of the unwary victim whose tongue is on fire having bitten into one of these sabotaged dumplings, the women burst into appreciative giggles.

Also served during the New Year period is Thingyan rice. The rice is cooked in an earthenware pot which has been treated with beeswax fumes to impart a special fragrance. The rice is served steeped in cool water and accompanied by dishes of smoked, dried fish dressed in sesame oil, and a sweet and sour salad made of chopped marann plums. The marann is a succulent, acutely sour fruit related to the mango. This tradition goes back to the days of Burmese monarchs when Thingyan rice was served ceremoniously to the king and chief queen as they sat on the Bee Throne in the Glass Palace in Mandalay.

Another special festival rice is the treacly Htamane rice made during the month of Dabaung, which comes just before the month of Dagu and is the time when the harvest of new rice is plentiful. This treacly rice is a rich concoction of glutinous rice, sesame seeds, peanuts and slices of ginger and coconut; the mixture is stirred continuously while being cooked in water with lashings of sesame oil. Preparation of this delicacy sometimes takes the form of a friendly competition. Groups of contenders jostle around giant woks—the menfolk wielding spatulas big enough to paddle canoes with which to stir the rice—while sparks stream out from the wood fires tended by women waving fans. The merry sounds of tootling flutes, throaty oboes and stuttering double-headed drums, accented by the rythmic beat of bamboo clappers, accompany the activity. The musicians encourage the stirrers to turn out the tastiest, creamiest treacly rice in the minimum amount of time. This custom can be traced back to the Second Inwa Period during the 18th century. Historical accounts describe how troopers of the royal cavalry, under the supervision of the minister of the granaries, prepared one thousand pots of the rice. This rice was then donated to the monasteries and pagodas by the king, as custom decreed.

Young dancers performing at the State School of Music and Drama in Mandalay.

As is the case in most agricultural societies, the harvest festival in Myanmar holds great significance and is celebrated by those living in the lowlands as well as by the people of the hills. From this practice of celebrating the "eating of the new rice" comes the preparation of mourih zann, or new rice flakes, which can either be eaten fresh or kept for months. Ears of glutinous rice are collected when they are just ripe and the grains are roasted right after threshing. The roasted grain is pounded lightly in a mortar with a lightweight pestle, husked and, after the chaff has been removed, the rice flakes are either stored for consumption at a future time or, if they are to be eaten soon, kneaded with sugar and coconut shreds after being sprinkled with hot water.

Whatever the celebration, the preparation and consumption of dishes for special occasions will always be a part of the activities that constitute such a strong part of the Burmese identity and which continue to affirm community bonds.

Towering fruit cakes are made by steaming a mixture of palm sugar, raisins, coconut milk and finely ground rice.

Traditional Meals

Courteous manners, generosity and a wide variety of dishes are all part of the Burmese meal

By San Lwin

Breakfast in Myanmar is traditionally a light repast of fried rice, or yesterday's rice warmed up, served with boiled garden peas and green tea. Many delicious alternatives are now becoming popular though. Breakfast today could take the form of steamed glutinous rice topped with roasted sesame seeds and fish or vegetable fritters; smoked dried fish; mohinga, thin rice noodles in fish soup; or ohn-no kyaukswe, wheat flour noodles in chicken and coconut gravy. Rice gruel garnished with chunks of fried Chinese dough sticks might be gulped down, as might naan, flat bread fresh from the tandoor oven, with either boiled garden pea salad or lamb bone soup. Alternatively, a steaming chick-pea broth or a chicken curry might provide the morning's sustenance. Coffee or tea sweetened with sugar and milk have become fashionable and are now common in most homes, replacing the simple green tea.