Food For Thought- Traditional Myanmar Cuisine

Food’s the real reason we all travel, right?

Well, for me it is anyway!

And right before I was jetting off on my Myanmar adventure, I attempted to find out what type of food they ate in this wonderful land, and you know what I found?

Nothing.

Apparently, no one knows what they eat in Myanmar- I know! I was shocked too! (If you have any blogs who have written about this, PLEASE send me the link and I’ll link them in!).

I was actually really surprised that in my time in Myanmar we had an option in almost every menu to have Chinese food or Thai food as well as Myanmar favourites. Although I had some really good Chinese and Thai food in Myanmar, this post is strictly about Burmese cuisine!

What type of flavours should I expect?

• Peanut

Yup, embrace that satay life! The peanut flavour is present in everything traditionally Burmese from soups, salad’s to curries and pastes!

• Sesame

Also popping up in every dish you have will be some sort of sesame essence. I love soups so there always seemed to be sesame seeds in these, but when you had noodles or salads that sneaky sesame flavour was always there!

• Tomato

this was actually a big surprise! In Asia I expect lots of lemon, salt and chilli, but instead I got a sweet acidity in most of my food. I found out later that this is from tomatoes as they are one of Myanmar’s biggest exports due to the floating gardens on Inle lake!

What are the main ingredients?

• MSG

It wouldn’t be Asia without this magic little ‘seasoning’ would it? Almost every dish had it in it and I think I could feel my liver hurting halfway through my trip. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water!

• Peanut Oil

The bane of my existence and the reason I put on 5kg while in this country (or was it the beer? 🤔)! At least a ladle full goes into each dish, whether it be a curry, noodles or salad. YUM!

• Sesame Seeds/Oil

I mean, you could have guessed it from the flavour section, but what is with the sesame?! It was legit everywhere! Those little seeds get in your teeth and stay there- they don’t come out easy!

What are the staple foods?

• Shan noodle soup

The dish I ate the most while I was there was this delicious soup! I had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! It was awesome. Originating in the Shan state it appears to have become a national dish ranging to tea houses as far south as Yangon. A definite must try on your trip!

• ‘Salad’

So I’m in Asia and the lady at the restaurant asks if I want to order a salad. Of course I refuse-it’s Asia, salad is fresh and fresh things mean diarrhoea. After I ordered myself a curry, I see two ‘salad’s come out to a table nearby- an avocado one and a tomato one.

These salad’s looked like guacamole and salsa! And the following night when I tasted them they were yum as (but expect that sesame and peanut taste to come back to haunt you)!

• Tomato based curries

As I’ve already mentioned, tomatoes are a big ingredient in the cuisine due to being a large export. The curry based on tomatoes is interesting- it’s a lot more gentle and softer in flavour than a red curry or a rending. Some may argue that it’s dull, but I quite enjoyed each one I had!

These were just my food memories and highlights for my time in Myanmar, did you have a different experience? Tell me about it!

Happy Travels!