Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
great deal of oil is added to Burmese curries, supposedly to keep bacteria out, but like locals
you can skim the oil off. At the best restaurants, the meal will also include a selection of up
to a dozen small
side dishes
, including
balachaung
, a spicy mix of crisp deep-fried shallots,
garlic, chilli and dried prawns, plus fresh vegetables and herbs with a dip (usually
ngăpí-ye
,
a watery fish sauce). Chinese green tea will usually be thrown in, and sometimes you'll get a
dessert
such as tasty
lahpet thouq
(
tea-leaf salad
)
or jaggery.
While many people now use a fork and spoon to eat curry and rice in restaurants, tradition-
ally the Burmese eat with their
hands
. In some places you will see people using their right
hands to massage lumps out of the steamed rice, before ladling gravy onto the same plate
and mixing it through with their fingers. When it's satisfactorily mixed, a small handful will
be gathered in a pinching motion and pushed into the mouth using the thumb, with the diner
taking bites of the meat and vegetables in between. Often, the quantity of rice seems ridicu-
lous when compared to the small bowls ofcurry that are dished up,but these quantities make
sense when eating with your hands - the gravy goes a lot further. People generally eat with
their right hands, although the taboo against eating with the left hand is not as strong here
as it is in India. Chinese-style spoons are used to serve from common dishes and for eating
soup.
