Burmese Meat Curry - အသားဟင်း a thaa hin

 

Burmese Meat Curry

I call this Meat Curry because the recipe can be used to cook any kind of meat. Beef Curry is called Ametha Hin and Pork Curry is called Wetha Hin. I used lamb leg, but I don't know what lamb is called in Burmese. One translation calls it Soetha Hin, but I'm not sure if that's correct.

The process is pretty simple and all the ingredients are readily available. Pieces of meat are marinated in a coarse paste of onions, garlic, tomatoes and paprika or soaked dried chilies. I used a pressure cooker to tenderize the meat for half an hour, but it can also be simmered on the stovetop for 2 hours. If a pressure cooker is used, it should be removed from the heat and left undisturbed (after the half hour of cooking) to de-pressurize naturally, which takes 15-20 minutes. After all the steam dissipates and depending on how much liquid remains, the curry needs to be simmered to reduce the gravy until the oil resurfaces.

Burmese Fish Ball Curry

 

Burmese Fish Ball Curry

I bought the pre-formed frozen fish balls made from cuttlefish at a Vietnamese market. The package was left in the fridge overnight to thaw and the next day the fish balls were simmered in chicken broth for 20 minutes to soften before adding to the gravy. If the fish balls are added directly after thawing, they turn out to be rubbery and chewy. After simmering, they turn soft and seem to absorb the spices in the gravy much better.

Burmese Cucumbers and Shrimp

 

Cucumbers and Shrimp

I enjoy the taste of cooked cucumbers, especially when they are paired with shrimp. This is a Burmese dish and is very easy to put together.

San Pyoke - Burmese Congee

 

San Pyoke

This congee or rice porridge brings back memories of our childhood in Rangoon, Burma (now known as Yangon, Myanmar). Rice is cooked for hours in water or chicken broth until silky and creamy and it's the most comforting thing to have when sick in bed with the flu. Here I have made a basic congee using catfish nuggets then garnished with celery leaves, pickled mustard leaves, tomatoes and balachaung, a dried shrimp condiment.

Bamboo Shoots with Surimi

 

Bamboo Shoots with Surimi

When a member of the family is allergic to shrimp, the cook has to resort to other means to pump flavor into vegetables. In this case, bamboo shoots that taste simply wonderful made with shrimp is cooked with surimi or fake crab. Louis Kemp makes a good product using a medley of fish to simulate the taste of shrimp or crab.

Burmese Semolina Cake - Sanwin Makin

 

Sanwin Makin

Semolina is also known as Cream of Wheat in English, Shweji in Burmese, and Rawa or Suji in Hindi. It is available in any Indian market and, most recently, comes pre-toasted to a lovely golden hue. I've tried making this dessert a few times but was most pleased with my efforts this last time. That must be because I replaced the white poppy seeds (posto) with a mixture of white poppy seeds and toasted sesame seeds.

It's pretty labor-intensive to prepare, so set aside a whole afternoon to make this semolina cake. Sanwin Makin is a popular and beloved dessert in Burma. What I love is the aroma that permeates every corner of my home, of toasted semolina, sesame seeds and coconut milk. This cake is creamy, dreamy and light. I baked it in a 9" x 8" Pyrex dish and it was enough to feed 10 guests for an after-lunch snack with coffee. All of us, from the oldest adults to the youngest child loved it and came back multiple times for more!

Burmese Shan Noodles

 

Shan Noodles

Rice Noodle Dish from the Shan States of Burma.

I've never made or had this before and was pleasantly surprised at how light this noodle dish was compared to Ohno Khaukswe. No coconut milk anywhere, but delicious nevertheless.

Components are:
Rice Noodles
Chicken Curry
Chicken Broth and
Garnishes 

Htamin Laphet Thoke

 

Htamin Laphet Thoke

A cup of cooked long grain rice was mixed into Laphet Thoke for a sumptuous lunch. Tea Leaves Salad is a famous Burmese dish that is so easy to make. Once the ingredients are procured, all that is needed is for everything to be dumped into a bowl and mixed thoroughly by hand.

 Ingredients

Burmese Chet Tha Hin - Chicken Curry

 

Burmese Chet Tha Hin

A package of supermarket chicken wings, already separated into flats and drumettes, quickly transformed into a comforting chicken curry. Ching's Singapore style noodles come with four little packages of curry powder. I used one of these curry powder packages in this chicken curry, but any brand of curry powder will work. It's a quick and easy dish to prepare and tastes wonderful.

Ohno Khawkswe and Kyaukyaw

Ohno Khawkswe

Memorial Day weekend this year brought warmer temperatures, but our nephew and niece from Florida wished they had brought their jackets with them. We celebrated the dawning of a new age, leaving behind the blight of Covid-19 shutdowns and related misery, with Burmese food for lunch. Even though our guests had not tried Burmese food before, they relished their steaming bowls of chicken and coconut noodle soup.

Noodles and Soup

We began by ladling noodles and soup into a bowl and then surveyed the host of garnishes that graced the table. 

With Garnishes

Working our way clockwise in the first picture, we had a choice of fresh lime cut in wedges, roasted and ground chili powder, minced cilantro or fresh coriander leaves, chopped boiled eggs, minced green onions, deep fried onions and deep fried garlic. Not shown in the picture were chili-garlic oil and roasted chickpea powder.

KyauKyaw for Dessert

For dessert we had KyauKyaw (chow-chaw), a cool and refreshing coconut jello that's made with agar-agar or seaweed gelatin.

Mohinga - Burmese Fish Noodle Soup

Mohinga

Mohinga - the soup

Noodles and Garnishes

Boiled fresh rice noodles

Chopped green onions

Pae Kyaw - split pea fritters

Chili flakes

Sliced hard-boiled eggs

Sliced onions

Minced cilantro

Noodles and Soup

Noodles, Soup and Garnishes

Khayan Thee Sipyan - Burmese Eggplant Curry

 

Khayan Thee Sipyan

Long cuts of eggplant combined with crab sauce, are simmered to a delectable softness nestled in a piquant gravy of sweet, sour and umami aromas and taste. If crab paste is not available, shrimp powder can be substituted.

Serve with hot, steamed rice, as a side dish. 

Burmese Minced Meat with Pickled Bamboo Shoots

Burmese Minced Meat with
Pickled Bamboo Shoots

Bamboo shoots taste lovely when they are cooked with shrimp, as in Burmese Bamboo Shoots with Tomatoes and Shrimp and Burmese Bamboo Shoots with Green Onions and Shrimp. For those of us who are allergic to shrimp, cooking bamboo shoots with minced meat tastes just as good.

Bamboo shoots are found in Asian grocery markets either soaking in water or sliced and pickled in packages. I prefer the latter because they are always tender and the pickling juices help to season the meat perfectly.

Burmese Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Minced Meat

Burmese Stir-Fried Rice Noodles
 with Minced Meat

A Burmese video posted on Facebook provided the inspiration for this recipe. It was super simple to follow and needed just a few often-used ingredients that I regularly stock in my pantry. 

To make things easy on myself, I purchase substantial quantities of ground chicken, brown the lot in some oil, crumble and freeze it for future use. It's quick and easy to assemble the ingredients, when needed, if the minced meat is already cooked.

Ideal for lunch or if unexpected guests drop by, this is one dish that I'll be making often.

Stir-Fried Glass Noodles
 with Minced Meat

Chet Oo Chin Hin - Burmese Egg Curry

Chet Oo Chin Hin

Chet = Chicken 

Oo = Egg

Chin = Sour

Hin = Curry or Gravy

I love the convenience of combining all the ingredients for this egg curry in one skillet and simmering over medium-low heat until oil rises to the surface. 

Burmese Chet Tha Sipyan - Chicken in Red Curry Sauce

Chet Tha Sipyan

In Burmese, Chet Tha (chicken meat) Sipyan (oil returns) is a chicken gravy in which oil floats to the top. The vibrant red color in the gravy is achieved through generous amounts of Kashmiri mirch or paprika. The wings are marinated with fish sauce, turmeric powder and paprika, fried until golden brown, then simmered in a red curry sauce. Boiled new baby potatoes are added for a contrast in texture.

Burmese Chicken Biryani - Danbauk

Danbauk

Perfectly paired with Tomato Raita.

Tomato Raita

The only unusual ingredient used is Oriental curry powder - I used S&B brand.

S&B Spicy Curry Powder

The recipe looks tedious but is no different from any other biryani.

Mohinga - Burmese Fish and Rice Noodle Soup

Mohinga

http://chumkieskitchen.blogspot.com/2012/11/mohinga-burmese-fish-noodle-soup.html

A couple of friends joined us for lunch the other day, to enjoy a Burmese meal. 

Of course, the question was 'What is the difference between Mohinga and Ohno Khaukswe?' Mohinga is made with de-boned fish in a light broth served over rice noodles and Ohno Khawkswe is made with chicken in a coconut broth served over egg noodles. Both are generally served at breakfast in Burma, but we have them for lunch or dinner.

Setting the Table

Both noodle soups are served in soup bowls and eaten with the boat shaped soup spoons that are visible at the center of the table. Make sure to have lots of napkins to sop up the dribbles!

The Noodles and Soup

An essential ingredient in Mohinga is sliced heart of banana trees, which is not easily available in North America unless you grow your own, so I substituted with water chestnuts for their crunch. Whole pearl onions make the soup more flavorful.

Noodle Soup and Eggs

I love the texture of hard-boiled eggs in my Mohinga. It's one of the many garnishes used to dress up this fish soup.

Noodle Soup and Garnishes

A fully dressed bowl of Mohinga. 

Laphet Thoke

http://chumkieskitchen.blogspot.com/2014/06/burmese-laphet-thoht-recipe.html

The Mohinga was served with a side of Laphet Thoke or Pickled Green Tea Leaves Salad.

Kyauk Kyaw

http://chumkieskitchen.blogspot.com/2016/07/burmese-kyauk-kyaw-perfected-technique.html

And Kyauk Kyaw for dessert.

Burmese Chin Baung Kyaw

Stir-Fried Roselle Leaves

Chin baung ywet or roselle leaves are a sour spinach that are similar to sorrel. Although they don't look anything like each other, they taste almost the same and can be cooked with shrimp, chicken or other meat. The greens tend to turn black when heat is applied to them, so I like to mix them with regular chopped spinach to cut back on the tang and to make them look green and vibrant.

Burmese Fish Balls Sipyan

Fish Balls Sipyan

Fish balls remind me of the time a group of co-workers and I went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant and I ordered fish ball and watercress soup. A Chinese lady and I were the only ones who had ever heard of fish balls, so it was the source of much amusement and glee for our meat-and-potatoes comrades. 

Fish balls can be made at home, but are readily available in Asian markets here in North America. When made from scratch, all the tastes that make them uniquely Burmese can be added to the fish mixture so that the flavors permeate from the inside out. Using generic fish balls from the market requires that they be simmered long and slow and, for this, the sipyan method works best. 'Sipyan' translates to 'oil returns' which requires a simmering process on medium-low heat that evaporates the liquid until all the oil rises to the surface.