Food in Myanmar

Even though there is again much less variety in the dishes than in Thailand or Vietnam, Myanmar has quite a colourful menu with specialities from different ethnic groups.

A classic that you will find on pretty much every menu and in all the simple teashops. Burmese-style curries are a bit milder, but as well more oily as they tend cook their curries until the oil separates from the other ingredients. The main meat used is chicken, but you will sometimes find beef, lamb or fish curries as well. With a Burmese curry you get rice as a side dish as well as a more or large selection of condiments (sauces, pastes, chutneys, etc.) and a soup, either an Indian influenced dhal (lentil) soup or a salty leaf-based broth. In some restaurants a plate with fresh vegetables and herbs will be served as well. And as for pretty much every meal in Myanmar you will get a small bowl with pickled mustard leaves on the side (so yummy) One of Moni's favourites.

The national dish of the Shan people (the northeastern state with its capital Hsipaw that we visited as well) are these very tasty Shan noodles. Usually rice noodles will be served in a hearty pork broth with chopped onions, tomatos and green herbs on top. There are dozens of varieties of this popular dish such as cold Shan noodle salad or with chicken broth and chicken meat instead. On the side the mandatory bowl with pickled mustard will be served. One of Alex alltime favourites.

Yes, you read correctly. In Myanmar tea leaves are not only used for boiling green tea, they also use the tea leaves from the Shan hills to prepare this excellent and refreshing snack consisting of fermented and pickled green tea leaves topped with roasted peanuts and cashewnut as well as crispy fried garlic chips and sesame seeds. Once you try it you will never want to miss it again and it was a regular dish on our menu throughout Myanmar.

Apart from our beloved tea leaf salad, Burmese restaurants offered a good variety of freshly prepared salads, like tomato salad, egg salad, fresh and spicy ginger salad and avocado salad. All of them were usually garnished with nuts and other crispy ingredients. Avocados were very widely seen in the country, but we heard that the Burmese originally had no idea what to with this fruit and fed it to the pigs until they realized that Westerners love avocado salads, smoothies and dips.

Roti is a flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It looks a bit like a big savoury pancake and is fried on large metal cooking surface and then filled with various sweet and salty ingredients: eggs and vegetables, eggs and chicken or the classic coconut or banana and chocolate roti. Roti was mainly served in the simple teashops and were usually ridiculously cheap. One of our favourite restaurants serving amazing roti was the nameless teashop in Hsipaw just opposite of our hotel.

As Myanmar is bordering both India and China you can feel the Indian and Chinese influence on the menus. Similarly, in the southern and eastern provinces bordering Thailand you can feel the Thai influence and dishes are usually more spicy. Myanmar consists of many many different ethnical groups (the Mons, the Kachins, the Chins, the Rakhines, etc.). We have not visited all these provinces as they are partly not or not easily accessible, but they all have their very own local signature dishes.

Beer is a very common drink in Myanmar and the country has mostly locally brewed lager on offer. There is a main brand available everywhere in the country "Myanmar beer" (see picture), a rather light and fresh lager. Around the northern part and Mandalay, you will find as well "Mandalay beer", a more bitter and heavier lager (Alex preferred that one). Other Brands available are Andamar and Dagon. As well Heineken is locally brewed under licence but too expansive and less popular.

As beer is relaltively expensive, local rather drink strong locally brewed spirit like Grand royal rum.

 Another curiosity of Myanmar is that they produce local wines on the shore of Inle lake. Don't expect a nice complex and elegant  Bordeaux style red but the location of the Red Mountain Estate (for sunset, it's just perfect) and the fact that we did not have a glass of wine in ages made us very tolerant towards the quality!