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

Minced Meat & Cabbage in Coconut Sauce

This dish combines a few of my favorite ingredients. It turned out to be more delicious than expected. The minced meat was first cooked with all the seasonings and coconut milk in a pressure cooker, combined with shredded cabbage and then cooked until dry. It's perfect served on a bed of rice, but would go well with chapatis, as well.

Keema Gobi - Shredded Cabbage & Minced Meat

Keema Gobi

Mum was a working, single mother of eight. She has been my mentor all my life and inspires me in the kitchen, my home and in my day-to-day life. I believe that even though she's busy with the challenges in the next world, she is by my side just as she was when she was here.

When we were growing up in Darjeeling, India, week days flew by in a hive of activity of going to school, doing our homework and socializing with friends. Weekends were very special because Mum would do the cooking and even though we were on a tight budget, we ate very well. The pressure cooker was our friend and went everywhere with us. We spent the winters in Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) and our pressure cooker accompanied us on our close-to 24-hour train journey. Life could not go on without that essential tool in the kitchen.

So many dishes come to mind when I think of Mum in the kitchen. She was very adventurous and made complex (Lobster Thermidor) and labour-intensive (Yakhni Pulao) recipes, all of which we were eager to assist with and loved. 

This is a deconstruction of a recipe she made with cabbage stuffed with minced meat. She would cut a head of cabbage in half and remove part of the inside which she chopped up and cooked with the minced meat. She would cook the meat and chopped cabbage with spices, onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes and stuff the cabbage halves with the cooked meat, tie the whole head of cabbage with kitchen twine and brown it in the pressure cooker in hot oil. The pressure cooker would then be heated to full pressure and the contents cooked without any water for 10-15 minutes. The resulting slices of cabbage were something to behold, our home was filled with tantalizing aromas and it was so delicious to eat!

I took the lazy person's way out and simply shredded the cabbage and cooked it along with the minced meat in the pressure cooker. Still delicious and evoked so many memories of Mum and our idyllic childhood.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

A favorite among children, this light and simple meal is fun for them to assemble and hold in their little hands. It’s also easy to brown the chicken and mix the sauce beforehand and cook just before serving. For children this works as a main course, but for adults this probably would work better as an appetizer for dinner or as a main course for a light lunch.

Ingredients:

1 lb. minced chicken

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
¼ tsp. sesame oil
1 can water chestnuts, diced

6-8 button mushrooms, diced
12 leaves Boston or Romaine lettuce

½ cup roasted almonds or peanuts, chopped
2 green onions, sliced thinly
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Separate lettuce leaves, rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Whisk 1 tsp. oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame oil together until thoroughly combined.
3. Add remaining oil to a non-stick skillet on medium heat, and cook chicken thoroughly for about 20 minutes, until browned.
4. Add sauce to chicken in pan along with water chestnuts and mushrooms.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving dish.
7. To serve, place 1-2 Tbsp. chicken in a lettuce leaf and garnish with nuts and/or green onions.

Doi Keema Matar - Minced Meat & Peas in a Yogurt Sauce

Doi Keema Matar

A really easy minced meat curry made with ground lamb, beef or chicken and green peas that tastes great as a stuffing for pita pocket sandwiches or served over steamed Basmati rice or with tortillas/chapatis.

I use my pressure cooker whenever I can to cook meat because it takes less time and seals in all the flavors. If cooking this in a saucepan is more convenient, make sure to simmer over medium heat for at least 45 minutes in Step 10.

Ingredients:

1 lb. minced lamb, beef or chicken

1 cup frozen peas

½ tsp. shah jeera or cumin seeds

1 cinnamon stick

2 large black cardamoms

2 large onions, diced

2 large tomatoes, diced

1 (6 oz.) tub of Greek yogurt

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. turmeric powder

1/2 tsp. Kashmiri mirch or chili powder to taste

1 Tbsp. ginger paste

1 Tbsp. garlic paste

1/4 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder

1 green chili, finely diced

2 cups hot beef or chicken broth

salt to taste

1 bunch mint, minced

1/2 bunch cilantro, minced

1 tsp. ghee or butter

1/2 tsp. sugar

Directions:

1. Brown minced meat with salt to taste and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker over high heat and sputter shah jeera, cinnamon stick and cardamoms.
3. Add chopped onion, green chili and fry until onions turn translucent.  Do not brown the onions.
4. Add ginger & garlic pastes, turmeric and Kashmiri mirch, stir well and cook for a few minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, stir again and cook until tomatoes break down.
6. Add browned chicken, along with mint and stir well.
7. Turn heat off, add yogurt a tablespoon at a time and stir into chicken.
8. Return cooker to medium heat and simmer until oil resurfaces.
9. Add half the hot chicken broth, bring to a boil, cover and bring to full pressure.  
10. Simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes, remove from heat and allow all the pressure to release.
11. Adjust salt to taste, stir in sugar and remaining hot broth and stir well.
12. Garnish with garam masala, ghee and cilantro and serve with hot basmati rice, naan or tortilla.

Burmese Minced Pork with Chayote Squash

Burmese Minced Pork with Chayote Squash

Chayote Squash is called Gurkha Thee in Burmese, probably because they were introduced to the Burmese people by Gurkha soldiers.

This squash acts as a tenderizer for all kinds of meat and is a popular vegetable that grows profusely in the higher altitudes of the Himalayan mountains. The Nepalese call it Eskuus or Darjeeling Squash. We grew up eating this squash which was usually cooked with meat. 

I'd forgotten about it until a friend from Texas showed me around her vegetable patch. She had it growing in the ground but suggested growing it in a container because it spreads out of control. Apparently, a green thumb is not necessary to grow chayote squash. All one has to do is bury the whole fruit in a container of soil and water on a regular basis. Each plant produces several squash and the tender greens are delicious in their own right. 

Serve this as a main dish with steamed rice as part of your Burmese meal.

Ingredients:

1 lb. minced pork, marinated for 30 minutes in

   2 Tbsp. fish sauce

   1/4 tsp. turmeric powder

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

5 chayote squash, peeled & cut in strips

2 onions, peeled & diced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

1 tsp. Kashmiri mirch/chili powder

2 green chillies, diced

3 stalks green onions, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat and brown pork, along with diced onions.
2. Add remaining ingredients except green onions and cilantro.
3. Stir-fry on high heat until squash is tender.
4. Adjust salt to taste & garnish with green onions & cilantro.

Serve with steamed Basmati or other long-grain rice.

Minced Meat with Red Beans & Potatoes

Rajma with Keema & Alu

I saw a recipe on a food blog for minced meat cooked with garbanzo beans, but couldn't find it again. It didn't matter because there were no garbanzo beans in the house. A can of red beans, smaller in size than kidney beans, inspired me to make Rajma which I pumped up with minced meat and diced potatoes.

Rajma is a one-pot vegetarian meal that is usually made with kidney beans and without meat. Canned beans drastically reduce the time it takes to cook the beans. As the beans cook and break down, they serve to thicken the gravy and impart a creaminess to it. 

This stick-to-the-ribs comfort food is ideal for rainy and cooler weather. 

Ingredients:
1 lb. minced lamb or beef

1 (14 oz.) can red/kidney beans, rinsed in several changes of water & drained

1 russet potato, diced

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cinnamon sticks

2 star anise

1 tsp. cardamom pods

1/2 tsp. whole cloves

1/4 tsp. shah jeera/cumin seeds

1 large tomato, minced

2 large onions, peeled and minced

10 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. ginger paste

2+ tsp. Kashmiri mirch/paprika/chili powder

1/2 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder

1 tsp. coriander-cumin powder

2 cups beef broth, set to a simmer

salt to taste

1 tsp. ghee

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat and sputter cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise and cumin seeds.
2. Add onions, garlic and ginger paste and stir-fry until onions turn translucent.
3. Stir in tomatoes, coriander-cumin powder & Kashmiri mirch.
4. Simmer until tomatoes break down and oil resurfaces.
5. Add minced meat and potatoes and stir-fry until meat browns.
6. Stir in garam masala powder and beef broth, bring to a boil and lower heat to medium-low.
7. Adjust salt to taste, cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes until gravy reduces to about 1/2 cup.
8. Garnish with ghee, remove from heat and transfer to a serving dish

Serve over steamed Basmati rice or with naan or chapatis.