Eggplant Salad with Yogurt Dressing

Begun-er Raita

Raita is an Indian side dish or salad of yogurt containing chopped cucumber or other vegetables and spices. It is usually served alongside rich dishes like biryani, pulao or with kababs. The yogurt dressing helps to tone down spicy dishes, soothing the palate with its creaminess. Greek yogurt is a good option, as opposed to regular unflavoured yogurt, because it is already drained of its whey, making it thick and creamy.

Cutting the eggplants into thick rondelles and lightly frying them preserves the integrity and texture of the vegetable, otherwise eggplants tend to break down easily and turn mushy. Marinating the rondelles of eggplant with salt and powdered spices like turmeric, fennel and Kashmiri mirch (paprika) serves to saturate the eggplants with flavor from the inside out.

To keep the yogurt dressing from curdling or separating, it is added and stirred into the eggplants after removing the skillet from the heat source. This salad tastes best if it is chilled in the refrigerator prior to serving.

Miso Soup

Miso Soup

This soup was so quick and easy to make, it was perfect for lunch served alongside fried dumplings. It tasted just like the miso soup served in Japanese restaurants. Another use for the yellow miso paste that sits in a large tub in our fridge. Thank goodness it lasts in the fridge forever. Notice there is no mention of salt and that's because the miso is quite salty. Adjust salt according to taste. 

3 Bean Salad

3 Bean Salad

Somehow, I managed to hit just the right sweet and sour notes in this salad. The trick is to assemble all the ingredients, mix them all up and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight. This releases the sweetness from the dried cranberries and the minty flavours to soak into the beans. The only cooking required is to steam the whole red lentils, chickpeas and red beans but I was fortunate enough to avail of a package of Melissa's steamed lentils and packages of chickpeas and red beans that were soaking in water and sea salt. Any combination of beans would work in this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) cup whole red lentils, steamed

1 (8 oz.) cup chickpeas, drained

1 (8 oz.) cup red beans, drained

1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries or raisins

2 stalks green onions, diced

1 serrano pepper, diced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

2 handfuls mint, diced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/8 cup cider vinegar

1 serrano pepper, sliced (for garnish)

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Whip together oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Mix remaining ingredients except sliced peppers.
3. Add oil & vinegar dressing.
4. Refrigerate overnight & garnish with sliced peppers before serving.

Burmese Bottle Gourd Broth - Buthi Hinjo

Buthi Hinjo

Burmese meals almost always include a bowl of Hinjo (soup) or Hinga (sour soup). These soups are composed of different vegetables in very light and clear broth. Unlike a soup course in a Western meal, Hinjo is not served as a first course. It is sipped throughout a Burmese meal because it serves to wet and cleanse the palate so that the distinct tastes of salty, sour, bitter or sweetness can be better enjoyed. Water is rarely served at a Burmese table; Hinjo is served in its place.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

3 cups water + 2 cups chicken broth (vegetarians use 5 cups water)

1 tsp. shrimp powder (vegetarians use 1 heaped teaspoon julienned nori)

1 Tbsp. fish sauce (optional)

1/2 bottle gourd/lauki, peeled and cubed (seedless cucumber works too)

1 small onion, diced

1 cup romaine lettuce, shredded

salt to taste

Lime, cut in wedges

2 green onions, sliced thin

Directions

1. Divide lettuce and green onions between 4 bowls & set aside.
2. Bring water and chicken broth to a boil and turn heat down to med-low.
3. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until lauki is soft.
4. Ladle soup over lettuce in the 4 bowls (lettuce will wilt in hot broth).
5. Serve with wedges of lime.

Burmese Laphet Thoht - The Recipe

Burmese Tea Leaves Salad

A very unique salad that Myanmar is famous for, the local population relishes and that visitors to the country must seek out is Laphet Thoht or Pickled Tea Leaves Salad. This is the recipe for that salad for which the sources for some of the ingredients and details (with photographs) of the procedure were described on my blog recently.

Burmese Hsan Pyoke With Meatballs (Congee or Rice Porridge)

Yield: Serves 6   

Prep Time: 5 minutes 

Total Time: 30minutes 

Hsan Pyoke (English translation is Rice Boiled) is a recuperative comfort food for wet/cold weather or when someone is recovering from an illness. I used day-old short-grained, steamed white rice which I've used to make fried rice, as well. This is a quick version of the same soup I made a short while ago, except this time I had all the vegetables on hand, the soup was made in under half an hour, the minced chicken was replaced with meatballs and the soup base was made with a teaspoon of Ajinomoto instead of dried shrimp.

Ingredients

2 cups rice

5 cups water

2 Tbsp. dried shrimp (or scallops), diced

   or 1 tsp. Ajinomoto

10-12 meatballs, quartered

1 heaped Tbsp. ginger, julienned or paste

2 cups diced carrots, celery, onions and peas

Salt to taste

Garnish:

Cilantro, chopped

Deep fried onions & garlic
Coarse Salt*

Lime or lemon juice

                                                                                          

Directions:

1. Cook rice and water until rice is very soft.
2. Add dried shrimp or Ajinomoto, salt and vegetables.
3. Stir well and simmer until vegetables are very soft.
4. Add meatballs & ginger; simmer uncovered to gruel consistency.
5. Adjust salt to taste, remove from heat and pour into serving bowls.
6. Garnish with cilantro, fried onions & garlic, coarse salt, sesame oil & a squeeze of lime.

** Coarse Salt, or Muoi Tom in Vietnamese, is a garnish that contains the following ingredients: Salt, Chilli, Dried Shrimp and Garlic. It tastes great sprinkled on soups, noodles, rice & butter/ghee, lentils or on buttered toast.

Vietnamese Coarse Salt and Ingredients

Burmese Hsan Pyoke (Congee or Rice Porridge)

Yield: Serves 6   

Prep Time: 5 minutes 

Total Time: 45 minutes + overnight

Hsan Pyoke (translated in English to Rice Boiled) is a recuperative comfort food for wet/cold weather or when someone is recovering from an illness. I used left-over steamed white rice from the Chinese restaurant, which I've used to make fried rice, as well. The package of frozen vegetables contains diced carrots, onions, peas, celery and potatoes.  Cooking rice the night before and leaving overnight at room temperature gives this soup a smooth and creamy texture. The minced chicken in this recipe can be omitted or replaced with flaked catfish, salmon or imitation crab and the chicken stock can be replaced with vegetable stock or plain water.

Burmese Ginger Salad

Set Hna Myo Gin Thoke
12 Ingredient Ginger Salad

A refreshing salad made from julienned strips of ginger, along with 12 other ingredients.  All the fresh ingredients are cut in the same size and shape. If fried onions and garlic are not available in your area, you will have to take the time to slice and fry them yourself.  The shrimp floss is made by pounding dried shrimp until they turn to a powdery floss. I make my own garlic-onion-chili oil by filling a bottle with a cup of fried garlic and onions & 2 Tbsp. red chili flakes and pouring hot Crisco oil to fill the bottle.  Allow the oil to cool a little before pouring in the bottle so the bottle doesn't crack from the heat. Store at room temperature for an indefinite period of time.