Toh Zya - Burmese Vegetable Dip

Toh Zya

A Burmese meal is generally started with an appetizer of fresh vegetables and a dip that oozes umami in every bite. 

Serve with Fresh Vegetables

or

Serve with Dumplings

My brother makes the best Toh Zya, but this version comes in a close second. Besides raw vegetables, this dip goes great with dumplings or gyoza.

Crab Paste

It's quite quick to assemble if pureed tomatoes (e.g. Hunt's tomato sauce) are available. Shrimp paste imparts the umami flavour we all crave, but Hubby is allergic to shrimp so I used crab paste that comes pre-cooked in a glass jar. The hardest part was to blanch a couple of onions and a whole pod of garlic which are added to the rest of the ingredients and blended to a paste before being simmered on the stove until oil resurfaces. There is sufficient oil in the crab paste so no oil needs to be added.

Green Grass Coconut Jelly

 

Green Grass Coconut Jelly

Inspired by my sister-in-law who is a wonderful cook, this dessert is cool, refreshing and delicious! It's simple to make because canned green grass jelly is available on Amazon and in Asian markets, so does not need to be made from scratch. It's best made with lychees that are soaked in its own juices, but were not available that day, so canned peaches were substituted.

Pandan Jelly

The liquid base is light coconut milk that was sweetened with the juices from the green grass or pandan jelly.

Maacher Tel Jhol - Fish in Spiced Oil

 

Maacher Tel Jhol

It was getting late one evening and creeping into the last hour before dinner, when I realized the protein part of dinner was missing. We usually have 3 dishes at dinner comprising lentils, vegetables and a protein. Fortunately, Hubby had shopped at Sam's Club earlier in the day and brought home his favorite Tilapia fillets. The only prep required to make this fish was to cut the fillets into bite-sized pieces and slice an onion. It was done in a jiffy, and, without missing a beat, dinner was on the table at our usual time.