by the Chinese.
French gourmet Alexander Dumas once remarked that the discovery of a new dish was as important as the discovery of a new constellation. How much more exciting, then, to discover an almost unknown cuisine. The food of Myanmar awaits you.
Fishermen on the picturesque Inle Lake drop large traps over shoals offish before spearing them through a hole in the top of the cage.
From the Delta, Plains and Mountains
Myanmar's dramatically varied terrain offers a range of regional flavours.
By Wendy Hutton and San Lwin
"Burma... is peopled by so many races that truly we know not how many... in no other area are the races so diverse, or the languages and dialects so numerous...". Thus wrote CM. Enriquez in Races of Burma in 1933. Although religion and tribal customs influence the cuisine of the people of this polyglot land—in which today's specialists have identified 67 separate indigenous groups—it is perhaps the terrain and climate which have had the greatest effect on regional cuisines. These factors determine the basic produce and therefore influence the dishes prepared by the people living in each area.
A Rakhine woman dries rice crackers in the sun.
The Burmese tend to classify their country into three broad areas: what used to be referred to as "Lower Burma", the humid Ayeyarwady delta around Yangon, and the land stretching far south into the Isthmus of Kra; "Middle Burma", the central zone around Mandalay, ringed by mountain ranges and thus the driest area in all of Southeast Asia, and "Upcountry", the mountainous regions which include the Shan Plateau and Shan Hills to the east, the Chin Hills to the west and the ranges frequented by the Kachin tribe to the far north.
The long southern coastal strip of "Lower Burma", Tanintharyi, is washed by the waters of the Andaman Sea and shares a border with Thailand. This region is rich in all kinds of seafood, which is understandably preferred to meat or poultry. While people in other areas of Myanmar eat freshwater fish caught in the rivers, lakes and irrigation canals, this coastal region offers a cornucopia of marine fish, crabs, squid, prawns, lobsters, oysters and shellfish.
Myeik, the main southern port (once known as Mergui) is an important center for dried seafood such as shrimps, fish and jellyfish, as well as for the precious birds' nests made from the saliva of two varieties of swiftlet. Bird's nest, however, does not form part of the local diet but is traded—as it has been for centuries—with the Chinese for sale in traditional medicine shops and food stores.
Dishes from the lowland southern region are more likely to include coconut milk that those of other areas of the country. For example, the southern version of the banana leaf packets of chopped seasoned pork typical of central Myanmar and the Shan Hills contains fish rather than pork, and is enriched with coconut milk rather than stock.
Flowing in a general north-south direction for some 2,170 kilometres, the life-giving Ayeyarwady rises in the mountains of the far north, then branches into a maze of rivers and creeks that make up the delta—about 270 kilometres at its widest. This is the rice granary of the nation. Rice is the staple crop in Myanmar and is consumed not only for the main meals of the day but for snacks as well. It is eaten boiled, steamed and parched; in the form of dough or noodles; drunk as wine or distilled as spirits. The quality of the rice cultivated ranges from the stout, reddish kernels of the swidden plots to the slender, translucent grains favoured in many parts of the Shan State. Of the 8 million hectares of cereal crops under cultivation, rice accounts for 7½ million of these; the remainder is devoted to maize, wheat, millet and other cereal crops, cultivated for both the domestic and export markets. Oil crops such as sesame, sunflower and niger seeds are produced almost exclusively for domestic use.
Farmers sell turnips wholesale to middlemen and traders.
A combined coastal length of about 2,400 kilometres and a network of rivers, irrigation channels and estuaries, particularly in the Ayeyarwady delta region, yields a dazzling array of fresh- and saltwater fish, lobsters, prawns, shrimp and crabs. The Ayeyarwady delta supplies the bulk of freshwater fish, sold fresh, dried, fermented or made into the all-important ngapi, a dried fish or shrimp paste (similar to Thai kapi, Malaysian belacan and Indonesian trassi). Not surprisingly, people living in this region also make abundant use of dried prawns as a seasoning for soups, sauces, salads and countless other dishes.
To the west of the Ayeyarwady is its most important tributary, the Chindwin River. This river flows along the Chin Hills which form a natural border between Myanmar and India and which are the source, not only of fine apples, but also the smooth-textured, sweet and tender meat of a species of half-wild, free-ranging cattle called gayal or mithun. In general, though, cattle and water buffaloes are raised as draught animals rather than for consumption.
East of the Chindwin-Ayeyarwady confluence, a trio of rivers race down from the Shan Plateau to the Ayeyarwady, where they are harnessed to a system of weirs and canals constructed in the 11th century to allow multicropping. Further east, the mighty, rumbustious arid mostly unnavigable Thanlwin rises in China, eventually pouring into the Andaman Sea. The Sittaung has its mouth a little further west of the Thanlwin and flows into the Bay of Martaban. Market gardens spring up on its alluvial banks after the monsoon has retreated and freshwater fisheries are set up along its drainage area.
The weekly floating market at Ywama village, Inle Lake, is a colourful affair.
Working in the paddy fields with the pagodas of Amarapura in the distance. The rituals associated with agriculture and religion are the fundamental elements of Myanmar life.
Arakan, now known as Rahkine, is a flat strip of land facing the Bay of Bengal on the west coast of Myanmar, sharing its northern border with Bangladesh. The people of this once proud, independent kingdom have traded with Indian merchants for centuries, and a certain amount of inter-marriage has left its mark in their skin colouring, which is darker than that of most Burmese. Although the majority of Rakhines are Buddhist, there is a sizable population of Muslims of Bengali descent who work as fishermen (something no devout Buddhist would do as it means taking life). Islam prohibits the eating of pork, and the cuisine of Arakan's Muslims is perhaps closer to that of neighbouring Bangladesh than to other areas of Myanmar.
Tuna, sardines, grouper, sharks, stingrays, oysters, mussels, prawns, shrimp, soft-shelled crab, sea cucumbers and even jellyfish, processed into think gelatinous slices, are harvested from this coastal strip, famous for its extensive beaches such as Ngapali, named after the well-known resort city of Naples. Touted as an aphrodisiac, the heart of sea urchins served chilled on squares of cucumber is relished in Ngapali. The eating of saltwater fish was only accepted by the majority of people as recently as 30 years ago; prior to that they were accustomed only to the taste of freshwater fish. Loach, featherback, hilsa, barb and freshwater catfish are preferred, while large fish such as sheat-fish, giant sea perch and large river catfish are usually sold in cuts. This preference for smaller fish has its roots in the Buddhist dislike of eating large animals.
Mandalay, where the last king of Burma ruled, is the cultural heart of the fiercely hot, dry plains of central Myanmar. Irrigation has made it possible to expand agriculture from dry rice (which depended on seasonal rain for its growth) to include crops such as peanut, sorghum, sesame, corn and many types of bean and lentil. Various fermented bean or lentil sauces and pastes are used as seasonings in this region, rather than the fermented fish and shrimp products typical of the south.
A wide variety of beans and pulses feature in Burmese cuisine.