Bean soup with pumpkin

A staple in the Myanmar kitchen is this delicious soup.

Ingredients:

1 onion (cut)
1 clove of garlic (pounded)
160 g beans
50 g French (long) bean
4 pieces of baby corn
2 tbls peanut oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3 palmful of basil leaves
5 tbls cream milk
1 tsp seasoning power
salt to taste
1 cup of water

Preparation:

1) Fry the onion and garlic with the oil.
2) Add all the beans  and pumpkin. Add the water. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
3) Add the cream milk, turmeric,  and seasoning powder.
4) Add the basil leaves, the baby corn, and the French bean.
5) Add salt to taste.

Ready to eat.

Mohinkha

A bowl of Mohingha

This is probably the most national of dishes in Myanmar. You would be hard-pressed to find a teashop that does not serve their version of Mohingha.

So how do you prepare a nice bowl of steaming Mohingha at home? Well, here is my version of this recipe.

If you want a vegetarian version of this dish, check out this recipe.

Ingredients:

160 g yellow split plit peas
160 g oasted rice powder                          
300 g fish (any kind, boneless)                   
3 stalks lemon grass                                     
2 inches of fresh ginger                                              
2 tsp turmeric                                          
2 tsp (or to taste) chilli powder                                    
3 eggs                                               
2-4 small onions                                              
1 clove garlic                                               
2 tbls fish sauce                                        
100 g green beans                                      
coriander (to taste)
2 tbls oil                                                    
salt (to taste)
2 tbls chicken powder                                 
800 g rice noodles (thick or thin)                 

Preparation:

1) Boil the fish in about 1 liter of water (the water can be used for the soup later on).
2) Boil the eggs.
3) Boil the yellow split peas and drain.
4) Boil the noodles according to the instructions and drain (fresh noodles don't need to be boiled).
5) Fry garlic and onion until golden. Add ginger, lemon grass, turmeric, and red chilli powder. Cook for a few minutes until the ginger starts to colour. 
6) Add the fish and after a minute or 2 switch of the heat.
7) Mix all ingredients (except for the noodles) and season with fish sauce, salt, knorr powder (chicken powder). Taste
8) Put the noodles in bowls and add the soup. Add green beans (whole or in pieces) and coriander on top for decoration.
Enjoy.

About me

Welcome to a taste of Myanmar. For years I have been cooking the recipes that my father taught me back in the village near Bagan. Over the years, I have added many recipes to this knowledge of my childhood since there are so many wonderful dishes in this country. 

Making Mohingha

Now, with a renewed interest in my culture, many people travel to this wonderful country of mine. I find that there are more and people who would love to learn about our food and how to prepare it. 

Some of the most popular recipes I have put on this website. If you have trouble preparing the dish, feel free to email me about it (or write a comment here) and I will see if I can explain why it does not taste the way it should.

The recipes are mostly based on how people cook in Bagan and Mandalay (Bamar-Style) for the traditional recipes. I also have a wide knowledge of vegetarian food since my wife has been vegetarian for many years. 

On occasion I cook fusion (as my wife calls it). She is European and I have learned a bit of western food by know. She claims I make a very good tomato soup even though it is nothing like the traditional tomato soup. I also love making pasta and these usually are a hit with my children.

Bagan Style Fried Rice

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 can of rice                        

160 g Pork (in small pieces)  
        (for vegetarians: replace the pork with firm tofu)

3 Potatoes                                  

2 Eggs                                      

2 Onion                                    

1 Garlic                                    

1 bunch of Chives                                  

1 bunch of Parsley                                  

1 bunch Mint                                      

About 100 g green bean                            

2 medium-sized carrots                                   

3 tbls Oil                                        

Salt, pepper, soy sauce to taste

Preparation:

1.       Cut the potatoes into small pieces and boil.

2.       Boil the eggs

3.       Chop onion, garlic, chives, parsley, and mint.

4.       Cut the carrots and green beans into small pieces.

5.       Fry onion and garlic. When slightly golden, add the pork (or tofu), green beans and carrot pieces.

6.       When the pork and carrot pieces are done, add the rice.

7.       Spice it up with the soy sauce and salt to taste.

8.       Mix in the potato and eggs and serve.

Avocado salad

Avocado salad is a great side dish and so far I have never had any guests tell me that they did not like this dish. It is easy to prepare and most of the ingredients will be in you kitchen cupboard.

Make sure the avocado is nicely ripe. Then you will have the best taste. Use a good quality oil since you are making a salad.

Ingredients:

2 avocados

3 small onions (shallots)

1 clove of garlic finely cut

3 tbls peanuts

7 tomatoes

1 lime (optional)

3 tbls of oil

A pinch of salt

Coriander for garnish

Preparation

1. Pound the peanuts to powder using a mortar and pestle.

2. Cut garlic, onion, tomato, and avocado.

3. Fry garlic to a golden colour.

4. Put all ingredients into a bowl. Mix. Garnish with coriander and lime*.

* Lime looks nice as garnish and the people who like the taste a little more sour can use the lime to add a little juice to their salad.

Vegetarian Mohingha

My wife has been a vegetarian for a long time now. Once when we were travelling she had vegetarian mohingha in a little vegetarian restaurant in Kyaukme. Since that day, she has asked me to make her mohingha. Nowadays, when I prepare mohingha, we have 2 versions of it. One pot of soup/sauce for me and the kids and one for her. When ours in empty, we continue with the vegetarian soup/sauce since we like the taste almost as much as our ‘traditional’ version.

A bowl of vegetarian Mohingha

Ingredients:

¼ kilo of yellow split pea (soak about 2 hours before or better, leave to soak overnight).

2-3 tbls of rice flour and pea flour each.

Lemon grass or ginger

Eggs

A pinch of salt

Soy Sauce

Onion

Garlic

Coriander

Green beans

1 tbls turmeric

Noodles

Preparation:

1. Cook the noodles.

2. Cook the yellow split peas.

3. Boil the eggs.

4. Fry the garlic and onion in a little oil. Add the turmeric. Add the boiled peas.

5. Mix the rice flour (or pea flour) with a little water to make a paste. Add to the mixture in the frying pan.

6. Mix the egg, soy sauce, and salt to the soup/sauce mixture.

7. Serve by putting noodles in an eating bowl, top with sauce to taste, garnish with coriander.

For the non-vegetarian version of this recipe, click here