TODAY

There are traditional foods of reknown all across Myanmar. You maycome across them while travelling on business or for pleasure. However, gourmands in Yangon are in luck, because virtually all ingredients necessary for a tasty traditional food or dish are available here. Maybe many Myanmar girls have become less of a homemaker, yet they can put to test their inborn culinary bent on the weekend in a social get-together with friends when they prepare a traditional snack just for their own enjoyment.

Shan Htamingyin (Sour Rice of the Shans)
A traditional meal usually found in food stalls in Shan State, Shan Htamingyin is served on banana leaf. The accompanying fresh Indian leek (roots of Joo herb), crispy fried chili pods and groundnuts as garnish are enough to make your mouth water. But, before travelling to Shan State, you can prepare it at home.

Ingredients
Rice of Shan origin  – 3 condensed milk tins Hamilton’s carp (or) banded snakehead – 30 ticals Onion (Large) – 7 bulbs Garlic – 7 bulbs Oil – 15 ticals Pea flour – 1 cup Tomato (Large)  – 5 fruit Salt, Sugar, Coriander  – A little each

Preparation
Rice is cooked until soft. Cook fish by boiling in water. Remove all bones. Add garlic, onion, and pureed tomato to heated oil. Separately cook oil with onion and put aside. Mix together rice, cooked fish, cooked oil, sugar and salt to taste, and pea flour. Top it with oily pureed tomato.

Add onion tops and ground pepper to stock to have much-welcomed soup. This refreshment goes best with coriander, onion tops, Indian leek, crispy fried chili pods and groundnuts.