Burmese Cuisine with Street food scenes

 “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai.

Burmese cuisine with street food scenes 

Blog number4 . 18.10.2020 nguptatravelscrapbook.blogspot.com

Current Covid lockdown status in my area ( Esher, UK ) Tier 2, High status.

Burmese cuisine is a gastronomic melting pot from its land and coastal regions being virtually spicy, fried and curried. For centuries, Burma has been at cultural junctions stipulating and enticing destination for traders, Buddhist scholars, and travellers. Distinctive and creative food has evolved over the times in this scenic country laced with beautiful rivers and fertile valleys. 

A typical Burmese Breakfast served with tea.

Burmese people have also been profoundly influenced by cuisines of neighbouring countries, particularly from India, Thailand and China curbing at its borders which have provided the greatest gastronomies of Asia. Not surprisingly, Myanmar has wholly benefitted from the flavours and styles of cooking from its neighbours.

In Burmese cuisine, there are oodles of Umami components which are added to enhance the meaty strength and flavours, to a dish.

These include soybean paste, soya bean crackers, shrimp paste and powder, fermented fish, fish sauce, soya sauce, oyster sauce, peanut powder and the full measure of zesty ingredients like red and green chillies of all shapes and sizes, ginger, shallots, fresh coriander and lime juice etc. Frying vegetables and fish in tempura style is a common cooking trend and becomes the main street scene anywhere you go. People sit around these mobile food stalls on low stools, to savour and consume their regular meals daily, thus familiar streets turn into a street food paradise. You would find mesmerising selections of dumplings, samosas, stick kebabs, noodle and tofu dishes all ready to eat during the rest of the day. 

                  

Mixed tempuras of fish and vegetables, served to us on a boat cruise.

The main crop in Burma consists of an abundance of rice, along with crops of sugarcane, cassava, peanuts, cashew nuts, sesame, beans, pulses, chillies, avocadoes, mangoes and coconut etc. Coastal areas abound with fish of all kinds including red snapper, white snapper, Seabass and prawns in various sizes. 

Burmese curries ( chicken, pork or beef) are cooked for a prolonged period, allowing the oil to rise to the top of the pot and in doing so saturate the taste of the chilli, turmeric, tomato, ginger, garlic and onions. The curries are always served with plain boiled rice in a bowl. Mohinga is a traditional fish soup with noodles, consumed at breakfast time. 

We found the locally grown fruits in abundance everywhere with freshly squeezed fruit juice stalls selling an easy refreshment. Salads make an essential part of any meal with sparkling flavours enhanced by fresh lime juice, chilly or garlic oil, balanced with fried shallots, roasted sesame seeds or crushed roasted peanuts topped with crunchy bean sprouts and sour pickles. As Myanmar cuisine is not so well known outside the country, travellers may opt to select something they know well, e.g. Thai or an Indian selection easily available in a restaurant.  

                    

Westernised food served to us at Hotel Savoy, Yangon. 

Some of the dishes that were included in our meal plans that I remember were lemongrass fish, deep-fried tofu, fried eggplant, various vegetable curried dishes, tomato and avocado salad, pork with mustard greens and fried tofu, sticky rice, and other international dishes like Indian and Thai curries, chicken laksa, daal and fried noodles.

Food served to us in Bagan( compartmentalized plates )

Assorted salads 

Below are some Street food scenes clicked from our camera

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed reading my blog. In the following blog, I would try to describe the scenes of balloon safari in Bagan, one of the highlights of this journey.