At first glance it seems clear what Burmese cuisine is, that is what the Burmese are cooking. But a closer look reveals that things are not as clear cut as they seem because there is widespread ignorance both inside and outside of Burma as to the correct meaning of words.
Burma is in many ways a land of great diversity. There are many different ethnic groups such as Mon, Shan, Kachin, Chin, Karen, Rakhine, Bamar etc. The total number of officially recognized ethnic groups is 135 but there are many more because many are unrecognized. And as diverse as the country’s ethnicity is its cuisine. In other words, ‘Burmese (Myanmar)’ cuisine is just a general term. What is called ‘Burmese’ cuisine is actually the sum total of the many different local cuisines and the cuisines of the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand, as the cuisines do not know more or less arbitrarily drawn borders. By humans.
Depending on the types of agricultural products available, as well as the local and regional flora and fauna, many dishes are not only different, but depending on the respective region, they also taste different, even if they have the same name. Is it a coastal region, is the natural environment hilly or flat, are there rivers, is it dry and arid or swampy and humid, is it warm, is it temperate, is it cold, is the soil sandy or rocky, what is the quality of the soil, is it How much irrigation water is available? These and other things are determining factors of what the respective local cuisine has to offer and how it tastes.
As stated above, there are dishes bearing the same name that are available and liked all over the country. But then again, they taste different depending on whether you eat them in Yangon, Mon State, Mandalay, Shan State or Rakhine State. A good example of this is the ‘unofficial Burmese national breakfast dish’ Mohinga. Mohinga, a hearty fish soup consisting primarily of fish stock made (preferably) from catfish, fish and shrimp paste, banana stem or flower, onion, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, and chili, thickened with chickpea flower and served with boiled rice noodles. eggs and slices of lemon or lime, originates from Mon State and is appreciated throughout most of Burma, but is not very popular in tribal areas along the Burma-Thailand border. Other examples are coconut noodles (O Nu Kaukswe), pickled tea leaf salad (Lahpet), and noodles in fish or chicken broth (Mont Di).
No doubt Burmese cuisine is very tasty and includes many delicious dishes, which I love to cook as I learned from my wife and of course to eat and share with family and friends. But where do these recipes come from? Time and time again, locals proudly speak and write about a ‘traditional Burmese cuisine’ and a ‘pure, non-hybrid Burmese cuisine’. pure burmese? Traditional Burmese? Not hybrid? What does traditional, original or pure Burmese cuisine really mean? Does it mean it originated from the country the British called Burma or does it mean it originated from the Bamar (Burmese) who make up the majority of the Burmese population and never tire of talking about ‘their cuisine’? And how original or pure ‘Burmese’ is Burmese cuisine anyway? I have lived in Burma for 25 years and I know a lot about Burmese cuisine, but nevertheless I have done some research on these issues to get it right. Although at first I thought it would be a piece of cake to find the answers to these questions, regarding Bamar’s cooking it turned out to be quite a difficult task.
It was to some surprise that I soon ran into real trouble because when it came to Bamar cooking (this is obviously what the Bamar mean by ‘pure Burmese’ cooking) I found that I was trying to find something I didn’t really know about. Knows nothing. In other words, there are no historical records of what the Bamar have eaten, so it cannot be said what and to what extent the Bamar have actually contributed to what is today called ‘Burmese’ cuisine.
The Bamar (made up of 9 different ethnic groups) were the last ethnic group to arrive in areas that long before their appearance were already inhabited by Pyu (Arakanese), Mon, Kachin, Kayah, Shan, Chin and (with the exception of the Mon) their many subgroups. What these ethnic groups have contributed to what is called ‘Burmese’ cuisine is evident because their traditional cuisines exist and can be assumed to have basically remained the same to this day. But what and where is the Bamar kitchen? In other words, although it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that the Pyu, Mon, Shan, etc. have made significant contributions to ‘Burmese’ cuisine, it is not entirely clear what the Bamars/Burmese contribution is (note that it is not Burmese). It seems to me that the Bamar have taken existing cuisines and made them their own by simply ‘burmanising’ the original names and calling the whole thing ‘Burmese’ cuisine. Surely the Bamar must have eaten something and subsequently there must have been some traditional Bamar (note, not Burmese!) recipes/dishes that they brought with them from where they came from. However, since there is no document, such as recipes written for personal use or published in cookbook form, that gives information on what original or traditional Bamar cuisine is, the answer to this question is left to speculation. Please note that what I am writing about Bamar’s cuisine is the conclusion that I have personally come to after extensive and exhaustive research. Other people’s research may lead to different results depending on the sources available. I have read and heard about a royal palace book with the title ‘Sâ-do-Hce’-Cân’ which was said to have been written on palm leaves in 1866 during the reign of King Mindon Min (1853 to 1878) and supposedly contains recipes. I seriously tried to get a copy of this book transcribed and published in 1965 by Hanthawaddy Press, but could not find one. This book is said to contain 89 recipes, but nothing is said about the type and origin of these recipes. However, I doubt that all (if any) of these recipes are Bamar pure origin recipes.
The answers to all the questions that I will answer in this preface are below. Not only, but also with regards to ‘Burmese’ cuisine, it is a fatal mistake (but unfortunately made quite often) to assume that Burmese and Bamar (Burmese) are the same thing because they definitely are not. Burma is the country and the Bamar are one of the ethnic groups that inhabit Burma. Since the Bamar -also called Burmese- constitute the most numerous ethnic group in this country, the British gave it the name Burma; and the citizens of Burma are Burmese. But not all Burmese are Bamar. Only members of the Bamar, which is one of the ethnic groups in Burma, are Bamar. Subsequently, we have to differentiate between the country Burma, its citizens the Burmese and the members of one of the ethnic groups of Burma, the Bamar. This means that there is a Burmese cuisine (the cuisine of the country) and a Bamar cuisine (the cuisine of the ethnic group) but these two cuisines are not the same. The problem with the original or traditional cuisine of Bamar is that no one knows what dishes it includes. The root of the problem with this is that no one knows exactly where the Bamar come from. If that was known beyond any reasonable doubt, we would also know what his kitchen is.
The next question I had to find an answer to was to what extent ‘Burmese’ cuisine is influenced by the cuisines of neighboring countries. This was particularly important to me because many Burmese and particularly Bamar never get tired of seriously stating that ‘your kitchen?’ it is still traditional and unique. However, the result of my research says otherwise. It is clear without a doubt that ‘Burmese’ cuisine is largely influenced by mainly Indian and Chinese cuisine; and this not only in the border regions but throughout the country and not only marginally but substantially. For example, the delicacy considered by the Burmese ‘Danbauk Htamin’ (chicken or mutton rice) is actually an Indian dish with the original name Biryani. In fact, some Indian dishes and foods like the very popular Burmese breakfast dish Htamin kyaw (fried rice) or Chin Tha Ye Thee (pickled mango) or Halawa (sticky rice with butter and coconut milk) are assimilated to ‘Burmese’. . ‘ cooks to such an extent that many Burmese don’t even know these are of Indian origin and instead believe they are original Burmese, which is of course incorrect. However, it is not just complete dishes that Indian cuisine has introduced into Burmese cuisine. It has also given the traditional Burmese style of cooking an Indian twist by having Burmese women and cooks use Indian seasonings such as Masala (curry powder), which is not traditionally used in Burma. And the story does not end here, the introduction of milk, butter and dairy products such as cheese, yogurt and sour milk, as well as the consumption of black tea with milk and sugar (surprised?) are additional forms in which the Indians have influenced Burmese cuisine.
The Chinese have secured their presence in Burmese cuisine in two ways. One way was to introduce Chinese-style cooking to Burmese homes and restaurants using vegetables that were previously unknown, used less, or combined differently, such as celery and Chinese cabbage, mushrooms such as Chinese mushrooms, sauces like oyster sauce and other things like bean curd (tofu) sauce. The other way the Chinese have carved their place in Burmese cuisine is Chinese dishes like Peking-baigin (Peking duck), Kawpyan-kyaw (spring rolls) and Pausi (Chinese dumpling). Chinese cooking style, Chinese vegetables, etc. and the dishes have become an integral part of Burmese cuisine.
I think it has become clear from my writings that ‘Burmese’ cuisine does not mean ‘Bamar’ cuisine and that nothing conclusive is known about the latter. And even if the Bamar have (which I think they have) contributed some recipes to what is called ‘Burmese’ cuisine, they have no part in all the other ethnic foods and dishes that have been around for a long time (actually , for a long time). centuries) when they arrived in what is now Burma (Myanmar).
In a traditional Burmese boiled (not steamed!) dish, rice (htamin) always takes center stage. The rice is accompanied with a variety of curry (hin) based on fish (nga) or shrimp (pazun seik) or prawn (pazun a-htoke) or pork (wet-tha) or beef (ame-tha) or chicken. ( kyet), clear broths (hincho) and/or clear soups (hinga), vegetables such as cauliflower (kaw-phi-ban), cabbage (kaw-phi-htoke) or eggplant (kha-yan-thee), salads ( athoke ) made from, for example, tomato (kha-yan-chin-thee) or cucumber (tha-kwa-thee) with onion (kyet-tun-ni), seasonal fruits such as apple (pan-thee), banana (nga -pyaw -thee), mango (tha-yet-thee), and/or pineapple (nar-nat-thee), etc. and/or desserts like semolina cake (sa-nwin-ma-kin). Unlike non-Asian countries where meals are traditionally served in plates (appetizers, soup, main course and dessert), in Burma everything is served all at once so that diners can choose for themselves what to eat first and what to eat next. final.
Life in Burmese homes traditionally takes place on the ground. Chairs and beds are familiar and exist in homes, but are mostly used by older people, especially for the large rural population of Burma.
Since eating is an integral part of life, therefore, it also takes place on the floor and the food is placed on a very low, usually round table, while the diners are seated on the floor. Burmese people usually eat with their fingers. Only the soup is eaten with short Chinese spoons and in the case of the noodle soup, the noodles are eaten with chopsticks. Bowls with water and lemon wedges for washing hands and fingers, as well as small towels, are provided on the table.
I hope you found my article on Burmese cuisine and related matters interesting and instructive.