6 traditional Burmese food you must-try when visiting Myanmar

Myanmar cuisine is known to be heavily influenced from countries like China, India, Thailand or the culinary culture of many ethnic minorities. However, you still can taste the unique characteristic in the cuisine of this country. Here are 6 foods that you should never skip to try when traveling to Myanmar:

1. Lephet thoke (green tea leaf salad)

Referring to the cuisine of Myanmar – the land of golden pagodas, Lephet (fermented green tea) is always the first name on the list of must-try foods. This dish is cooked from Lephet mixed with tomato, cabbage, roasted peanuts, and other ingredients like garlic and chilli.

2. Nga htamin (fish rice)

This special dish is cooked rice with fresh turmeric, covered with a layer of freshwater fish and garlic oil. Fish Rice is usually eaten with leek roots, deep-fried pork rinds, and cloves of raw garlic. Its oily and savory flavor makes it a snack that runs the gamut from pungent to spicy.

3. Curry meal

Curry is the traditional meal for locals with curry as the central element. A meaty and oily curry based around pork, shrimp, fish, mutton, or beef will be served with a succession of side dishes.

These will be rice, fried vegetable, a tart salad, soup, fresh and par-boiled vegetables, and herbs. This dish is also special on its various dips from ngapi ye (a watery and fishy sauce) to balachaung (a dry, spicy mixture of chillies, garlic and dried shrimp fried in oil).

4. Moun, bein moun, moun pyit thalet (sweet snacks)

These sweets are not literally eaten as dessert but rather as snacks for morning or afternoon tea by locals. Unlike any other types of sugar-packed sweets, Moun is made with sweet flavor from grated coconut, coconut milk, tapioca, fruit, or cooked sticky rice.

These sweets include Has nwin ma kin – small cakes of crumbly semolina flour with coconut
milk, raisins, and ghee.

5. Hto-hpu new (warm tofu)

This dish is not cooked with tofu but rather from chickpea grown in Myanmmar. It is a thick porridge made from chickpea flour and topped with a drizzle of chilli oil. Hto-hpu nwe is often eaten with pickled veggies and broth, chunks of chicken or pork.

6. Nangyi thoke

The Burmese really love kind of dry noodle dishes – especially noodle-based salads served with broth. And of these dishes, the tastiest and most well-loved is nangyi thoke. The dish takes the form of thick and round rice noodles with chicken, thin slices of fish, parboiled bean sprouts, and slices of hard-boiled egg.

The ingredients are seasoned with a mixture of roasted chickpea flour, turmeric, and chili oil, tossed by hand. This dish is often served with sides of pickled greens and a bowl of broth.