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Myanmar Assasa is the term for a Burmese or Bamar set meal. Unlike Indian food, the curries of Burma are mild not spicy, and simply cooked -- without a plethora of spices. Instead, shrimp paste or ngapi is king, plus tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric and a paprika-like chili powder. Such a typical Burmese curry is boiled down to a thick sauce, and eaten heartily with rice. Better yet, this simple gravy is the base for other curry dishes (and it freezes well). |
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| As in much of Southeast Asia, rice is the staple of Burmese cooking, while noodles are relegated to breakfast or as a snack or light meal. Sweets are typically served with tea throughout the day, but not at the end of a meal. Surprisingly, one of our favorite Burmese dishes, la peq or fermented tea leaf salad, is eaten in place of dessert. Here, green tea leaves are steamed and buried to mature for six months, then washed and pounded with garlic, and tossed variously with sesame seeds, nuts, fried beans or peas, dried fish and fried garlic and ginger. |
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| A typical Myanmar assasa menu includes a mild curry or hin-cho of chicken, prawns or lamb; a light but spicy thouq salad of raw fruits or vegetables (locals like it chin-chin, ngan-ngan and sut-sut -- sour, salty and hot); lentil dhal and/or a clear broth gourd soup, hin jo; and finally a relish or sambal eaten with raw vegetables. Cooks prepare the sumptuous spread in the early morning, and serve throughout the day. But late morning and lunch is when to head to a local roadside eatery for Myanmar assasa at its freshest. |
Likewise, mohinga could rightly be described as Myanmar's national dish -- albeit eaten only for breakfast. It consists of rice noodles and fish, while Shwe-taung Khauk-swear is an even more extravagant breakfast of wheat noodles, with chicken and coconut curry.
VISIT MYANMAR. . . read on |
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