10 Most Popular Foods in Myanmar

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If you are a food lover, then you must try the most popular foods in Myanmar. The unique Burmese cuisine will not only satisfy your palate but also leave you wanting more.

However, you may feel a bit confused thinking about which foods you must try. Thus, for your convenience, we have listed the ten most famous foods of Myanmar.

1. Tea leaf salad

People in Myanmar eat tea leaf salad or lephet in the form of a dessert. Sometimes, they also serve it as lephet thoke or a salad of pickles of tea leaves. To make it sour and bitter, they mix the leaves by hand with sliced tomatoes, cabbage, garlic, and chili.

Recipe for Tea leaf salad

2. Tofu Shan-style noodles

Hto-hpu nwe or “warm tofu” is an unusual dish of Myanmar. Its main association is with ethnic Shan of north Myanmar, and it contains thick chickpea flour porridge. Instead of tofu, it has rice noodles, marinated pork, and chicken. In addition, it has toppings of pickled vegetables and chili oil.

Recipe for Shan-Style Tofu noodles

3. Dan bauk

Dan bauk is a rice Burmese dish. The main inspiration behind this dish is the Indian biryani. It includes long-grain rice with Indian spice flavors of turmeric, saffron, cinnamon, cumin, star anise, garam masala, and cardamom. Besides these, it consists of peas, beans, and pieces of mutton, lamb, and curried chicken.

Recipe for Dan bauk

4. Samusa

Samosas have a crunchy texture, and it is perfect for an introduction to Indian cuisine. It is a triangular, deep-fried pastry with many vegetables like lentils, onions, peas, spicy potatoes, and ground meat. You can eat this dish along with chutney full of mint, tamarind, and coriander.

Recipe for Samusa

5. Htamane

Htamane consists of coconut shavings, glutinous rice, sesame seeds, peanuts, groundnut oil, and ginger. It is a part of the rice harvest festival during the lunar month of February. This savory snack is offered to Buddha at monasteries and pagodas. The rest of the rice is distributed among friends, neighbors, and family members.

Recipe for Htamane

6. Mohinga

Mohinga is another famous food in Myanmar. It is made with round rice noodles along with warm, herbal broth with a supplement of pith from the banana tree. Usually, people of Myanmar have this dish in the morning as breakfast. But, it can be a snack during the day and night time.

Recipe for Mohinga

7. Nangyi thoke

Tourists love and enjoy this unique dish from Myanmar. It is a dish full of thick rice noodles. People have it along with thin fish cake slices, chicken, hard-boiled egg, and boiled bean sprouts. You can have this wholesome dish in the form of a hearty meal during lunchtime.

Recipe for Nangyi thoke

8. Kaut Nyinn Paung

Kaut Nyinn Paung or sticky rice is a dish that people have around tea time during breakfast or lunch. You can find this in tea shops and markets. It is sticky, steamed white and brown rice with sesame powder, salt, shredded coconut, and peas. You can have this with tea.

Recipe for Kaut Nyinn Paung

9. Si Hta Min

Si Hta Min is a dish that belongs to Myanmar that is delicious and simple to make. You can get it during the festival of the pagoda as a breakfast dish. The perfect duo with Si Hta Min will be dried and baked fish along with some portions of steamed peas.

Recipe for Si Hta Min

10. Ngar Htamin

Ngar Htamin, or fish rice, is from the Shan cuisine. The recipe consists of rice with seasonings of turmeric, fish curry, and some homemade tomato paste. You can serve it with raw garlic cloves, leek roots, fried chili, and fried pork. Altogether, it will form a proper lunch dish.

Recipe for Ngar Htamin

Sources:

CNN travel

Tasteatlas

Sanctum

Asian Tour