Although Myanmar cuisine is influenced by India, China, Thailand and the culinary cultures of many ethnic minorities, its cuisine still has own characteristics. Not only people, culture, landscapes but also food of this Southeast Asia country attracts a lot of people to learn and enjoy. The food of Myanmar tourism has a rich ingredients and taste, visitors will have the opportunity to taste the unique food cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The article below will give you information about the most famous food in Myanmar that you should try when visiting this country.
The people of Myanmar have a long tradition in processing their own way of cooking and the history of traditional dishes. The food of Myanmar is often very sour, and comes with many entremets. Myanmar lies between two great and different cultures that have influenced not only religion, culture and the arts, but also influenced the cuisine. During the colonial period, immigrants from China and India also brought their food to Burma and enriched Burmese traditions. Today, due to the globalization and trade liberalization of pilgrimage tourism, Burma’s city always has food from many other countries, but most Burmese people still cherish their own food, its substance and uniqueness.
Myanmar cuisine is a mixture of many unique ingredients: noodles, seafood, rice with special traditional spices and vegetables. Since this is a tropical country, fruits are plentiful and they encourage the use of fruits in most of their dishes. Burmese people pay more attention to the cooking process than the type of food used in the dish.
1) Tea Leaf Salad
This is a unique dish mixed with many ingredients, different spices but the characteristic flavor is still pickled green tea leaves. Tea Leaf Salad is a snack or appetizer. Preparing tea leaf salad is quite simple. Tea leaves and chilies are mashed, pickled and mixed with many other spices to create a special salad. Tea Leaf Salad is a popular vegetarian dish of Myanmar people. The leaves are fermented, slightly sour and bitter, mixed with small chopped cabbage, tomatoes, crispy fried beans and other nuts and peas, some garlic oil and a few spicy chili peppers. However, this dish considered a stimulant, visitors reminded not to enjoy too much if they do not want to lack of sleep. Mentioning salads, people will think of snacks with mixed vegetables and blue color. However, this dish has a special brown yellow color. Also, if you have the opportunity to visit Inle Lake in Myanmar trip, do not miss the green tomato salad – the well-known food of Inle Lake, Myanmar.
2) Shan rice
Shan rice is a unique dish of Myanmar. Ingredients of this dish include rice cooked with turmeric, squeezed into a circular dish, then put on a slice of fresh water fish, sprinkled with garlic oil. The top of the rice is added with a mixture of leek bristle, cloves and crispy fried pork. Also known as nga htamin – fish rice, Shan rice (a tribe in Myanmar) is becoming one of the perfect choice of visitors to Myanmar. Shan people like to use a lot of vegetables, green vegetables can choose to cook or eat raw. If you travel to the Shan area, you will find people here to have a vegetable garden with a variety of vegetables and fruits. In every Shan meal, there was never a lack of fruit and vegetables. The aromatic rice is cooked with yellow broccoli and people can eat in combination with a freshwater fish fillet of garlic aromatic. Along with the spices such as garlic, peppers, Shan style rice is a favorite dish for those who like spicy. Shan people do not use much oil in cooking and do not use the fish sauce as Myanmar people do. Instead, the Shan mainly used soy sauce to process the dish.
3) Shan noodles
The Shan are the people of Myanmar, who live mainly in the Shan State and adjacent areas between Myanmar, Thailand and China. As a simple and popular dish, Shan noodles is a combination of spicy rice noodles, topped with chicken pieces and marinated pork, sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds and garlic oil. Shan noodles is often served with salted vegetables. Tasteful flavour, eye-catching looks are the reason why Shan noodles becomes the first choice of many visitors to Myanmar.
4) Mohinga
Mohinga is often considered traditional Myanmar cuisine. Mohinga is a noodle dish cooked with herbs and served with a crunchy kernel of banana. This is a popular breakfast in Myanmar, it is present in most street cafes, regardless of day or night. The main ingredients are chickpea flour, roasted ground rice, catfish cooked in broth and many spices such as garlic, onion, ginger, citronella, fish sauce … This dish will make your Myanmar tour trip more interesting, so you do not get bored by the familiar dishes. Mohinga is not only popular in Myanmar but also quite popular in some neighboring countries, it is sold in all parts of the city, you can easily find it. Considered to be the soulful, authentic dish of Myanmar, Mohinga is a dish that is widely sold throughout affluent and cheap restaurants. However, let’s eat as the people of Myanmar, that is get out of the familiar menu at the hotels to get on with the simple life here.
5) Nangyi Thoke
Nangyi thoke is a type of dry noodles, thick noodles, eaten with chicken, sliced fish, boiled eggs and bean sprouts. You can squeeze extra lemon to add sour taste. Nan Gyi Thohk is like Myanmar spaghetti noodles.
6) Myanmar Curry
Curry is a dish that is present at any eatery in Myanmar, which is not only a dish but also a great culinary experience. Curry is a typical dish with traditional style and taste of Myanmar cuisine that is present in any restaurant, from affordable restaurants to luxury restaurants in Myanmar. Curries are usually made of pork, beef or lamb, served with rice and side dishes a small bowl of soup and a large tray of fresh vegetables, such as sour salad, fried vegetables and other herbs. Curry is a dish bearing style and taste of Myanmar. Curry is the main ingredient but you can choose to eat pork, beef, lamb or seafood. At the curry shops for Muslims, Myanmar curry will be eaten along with salad, greens, beans … At the end of the meal, you will enjoy a traditional Burmese dessert – a traditional lacquer tray, tea made from palm trees with sugar, you can sip with seeds.
7) Shan style tofu noodles
Tofu noodles is one of the best dishes in Myanmar. This noodle is not really made of tofu but a type of porridge made from green peas, covered with a layer of noodles, eaten with chicken and Marinated pork, green vegetables and peppers. It was a unique combination but really very attractive. When you enjoy this tofu noodles, you will feel a little familiar, a little strange, it mixes together to create an unforgettable taste. Tofu is very beneficial for the development of teeth and bones, increased iron content in the blood formation. With abundant plant estrogen, tofu works to prevent osteoporosis. In addition, tofu does not contain cholesterol so it is a food that benefits people with blood pressure and cardiovascular. Many people love to eat tofu because of the light fat and cool feeling of this material. On hot days, people prefer to use tofu in processing many dishes.
8) Other dishes in the tea shop
The Myanmar tea shop will be a great place for visitors to explore the traditional Myanmar culture and life. The tea shops in Myanmar are not only a place to enjoy tea, it is also a place to regularly organize cooking courses and serve traditional dishes. Indian or Muslim tea shops tend to serve light snacks or salty items, such as samosas or poori (fried bread served with curry potatoes) or toast like nanbya (naan). Chinese tea shops usually serve grilled cakes and meat dumplings.
9) Fried foods
Burmese have a special passion for greasy food, so fried breads of all sizes and shapes are the most popular food on the streets of Myanmar.
10) Confectionary
Unlike western countries, sweet treats in Myanmar are collectively called “moun”. Snacks are often served with tea in the morning or in the afternoon. Furthermore, unlike candies in other countries in Southeast Asia, moun is usually not packaged with sugar but rather with the sweetness of coconut, coconut milk and fruit. Popular street food in Yangon is usually fried foods such as spring rolls, salty donuts, fried breads and many other noodles, served with sweet and sour mashes made of tamarind. Most of the buns in Myanmar are made from rice flour or glutinous rice, sometimes a mixture of the two. People mix the flour with garlic, onion, ginger milled. These accompanying spices bring aroma to the cakes when fried in oil pan.
Explore more topics: Yangon Overview; Bagan Overview; Mandalay Overview; Bago Overview; Things to do in Mandalay; Places to visit in Bago; Things to do in Inle
