FOOD CULTURE IN MYANMAR

Myanmar food is not well known as the other Asian cuisines of Thailand, China, India, or Japan. Myanmar people enjoy rice as their main food and it makes up about 75 percent of the diet. Rice is served with different kinds of stewed dishes and curries. Side dishes include salads and stir-fried or boiled vegetables with delicious spicy dips.

KITCHENS

Myanmar kitchens are presided over by the female members of the household—the mother, elder daughters, aunts, or grandmothers. In the kitchen a low round table about 1.5 feet (46 cm) in height is used, with low stools as seats. Common kitchen articles include a stone mortar and pestle, a chopping block—usually made of a round cross section of a tree trunk—earthen or aluminum pots without handles, and earthen water jars. Wood or charcoal fires are used, since electricity and gas is available only in larger urban areas and kerosene is scarce.

Most of the kitchen activity takes place at floor level. Because the fresh meat and vegetables are bought without benefi t of storage or packaging, a lot of cleaning has to be done immediately after their purchase. For this, and for the cleaning of large pots, a corner of the kitchen usually has a water tap and water jars.

Sometimes washing is done outside the kitchen in the backyard where water is stored in large barrels of wood or metal. Myanmar households use a “cat” safe, kyaungein (chaung-ain), to store cooked foods, leftovers, plates, forks and spoons, spices, and ingredients in bottles. The safe is a small wooden cupboard about 4 to 5 feet (122 to 152 cm) in height, a foot (30.5 cm) in depth, and 2 feet (61 cm) wide. The sides and front are made of wire mesh to give proper airing for the food inside; a couple of drawers provide space for cutlery.

MAIN INGREDIENTS

Rice is included in all meals and most snacks. It can be eaten as a salad, fried, cooked with coconut cream, or kneaded with fish. Rice is usually served with mild curries made with vegetables, chicken, fish, or seafood. Glutinous rice is steamed, boiled, or rolled in banana leaves with banana stuffing. Rice flour is used in many dishes, cakes, and desserts.

The Myanmar use many spices and herbs in their cooking, including fresh ones. Turmeric, chili, onions, garlic, and ginger are pounded in a stone mortar and cooked in oil before meat, fish, or vegetables are added. Coriander leaf, lemon grass, tamarind juice, fish sauce, and fish paste are used in many dishes.

Myanmar women cook without the help of written recipes. Recipes are handed down through generations by word of mouth, and one learns by doing rather than reading. However, Myanmar cookbooks have gained popularity in the last decade. The Myanmar also eat Western bread, cakes, and cookies, but wheat flour and other baking ingredients are scarce, and Western cakes are only for special occasions. People give cakes to parents and elders on festival days as a sign of respect.

MEAT, VEGETABLES, AND FRUITS 

All kinds of meat are eaten by the Myanmar, but most people prefer fish, fish products, and shrimp. If meat is avoided it is usually beef because the cow, used to plow the soil for rice, is regarded as a benefactor. Buddhists believe slaughtering a large animal for its meat is more sinful than killing a smaller one. Certain meats cannot be offered as food to monks, including bear, elephant, snake, and tiger meat. Some monks are vegetarian, although there is no specific religious taboo on meat.

Many lay people avoid meat during the Buddhist Lenten months from July to October. The Myanmar like to eat raw or blanched vegetables with fi sh sauce dips and to drink soups made from the freshly plucked tender leaves of certain tropical trees and shrubs. They enjoy eating the roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) leaf, a sour-tasting vegetable, and water greens, also known as the aquatic morning glory (Ipomea aquatica). Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), drum stick fruit (Moringa oleifera, a vegetable), gourd (a large green fruit of the gourd vine), chayote (Sechium edule), and eggplant are common vegetables. Backyard gardens provide fresh vegetables, and trees, in abundance even in and around the cities, provide fruit and tender leaves.

Because of the varied climate in the different regions of Myanmar, a wide variety of tropical and temperate vegetables and fruits is available. Many Myanmar plant their own vegetables and fruits. Fruits such as strawberries, avocados, and oranges were introduced during the colonial period, while grapefruit and apples were introduced as late as the 1950s. Common local fruits are mango, durian, mangosteen rambutan, tangerine, pear, watermelon, and jackfruit. Myanmar like to eat fruit peeled and cut to savor the taste of each individual piece.

TRADITIONAL MYANMAR FARE

Since Myanmar lies between India and China, both Indian and Chinese influences can be found in the cuisine. Many Myanmar dishes are cooked in a Chinese manner, including stir-frying and using typical Chinese ingredients such as bean curd, bean sprouts, and soy sauce. Indian influence can be seen in the use of spices for curries. On special occasions Myanmar serve biryani, an Indian dish of chicken cooked with spices and served with saffron rice. A traditional Myanmar main meal consists of boiled rice, a soup, a salad, a curry of meat or fish, and vegetables eaten raw with fish-paste sauce, boiled, or fried. In rural areas, meat curries are only an occasional treat.

For breakfast most Myanmar like to eat mohinga (mo-hin-gah), rice noodles in a fish soup. Certain towns in Myanmar are famous for different types of mohinga. Steamed glutinous rice with toasted dried fish, sesame powder, and grated coconut is also a favorite. Another breakfast favorite is nan-piah (nan-PIAH), a flat Indian wheat bread, eaten with boiled beans tossed in oil and salt dressing. Fried rice made from leftover rice from the previous evening also makes an adequate breakfast. Bread is eaten only in the main urban areas, and even then, only occasionally.

SNACKS, SALADS, AND DESSERTS

Many Myanmar enjoy eating fried snacks, which are usually fritters of onions, beans, bananas, or gourd. Myanmar salads are made of raw or boiled vegetables, or meat mixed with sliced onion, garlic, dried shrimp powder, ground peanuts, roasted bean powder, fish sauce, lime or tamarind juice, and oil (which is cooked with turmeric to remove the oily taste).

Dessert may be fruit, peeled and cut to retain its natural taste, fruit preserves, nuts, or jaggery (palm sugar balls) served with plain tea. Traditional desserts are made from coconut, rice, or glutinous rice flour, and jaggery. Coconut cream is an essential ingredient in traditional Myanmar desserts. Many desserts have fancy names such as “golden heart cooler,” “butterfly,” and “smooth as marble.”

DRINKS

Alcoholic drinks are sold freely in Myanmar. However, the Myanmar people mostly practice temperance, and there are no drinking customs as such among the Myanmar. Social drinking is mostly found among Western-educated Myanmar. Generally drinking is associated with alcoholism. Ethnic Burmans drink toddy wine or dani wine, while most of the other ethnic groups drink wine made from rice or glutinous rice. A low quality home brew called country spirits, or “CS,” is made from rice or corn and is available all over the country.

Among the ethnic groups, the Chin people who live in the western mountains drink a sweet wine, khaung yei (kaong-yay). They have the custom of drinking wine with a friend from the same container, usually a bamboo section. Hlawsa (hlorzah), the fermented rice from which khaung yei is extracted, can be eaten as a kind of pudding. Many ethnic groups celebrate festivities with drinking. At the Kachin Manao Festival, it is said that up to 3,000 bottles of khaung yei and 1,500 bottles of country spirits are needed for the numerous guests. The Pa-O people living in the Shan State also drink in celebration before the rocket-firing festival. Ethnic Karens drink at funerals and at bone collecting ceremonies.

MEALTIMES

Mealtimes in Myanmar are generally earlier than Western mealtimes. In rural areas, the family wakes before dawn, at about 4:00 A.M., and breakfast is at about 5:00 or 6:00 A.M. In the urban areas breakfast is at about 7:00 A.M. The midday meal is eaten at about noon; offi ce workers carry their own food to the offi ce in a small lunch box or tiered lunch carrier. In place of afternoon tea, a main meal is served at about 5:00 P.M. In urban areas where there is little or no night life, a light snack with a pot of Myanmar tea might be suffi cient for supper at 10:00 or 11:00 P.M. Bedtime is even earlier in villages due to the lack of electricity and other lighting fuel.

TABLE MANNERS

The Myanmar do not dine in the Western sense of savoring food or wines and making conversation. The meal is quickly eaten and is over when one is full. There is no lingering at the dinner table, and guests may leave quite soon after eating. Dishes are full of flavor, but there is no emphasis on decoration or garnish. A meal does not consist of different courses. Instead, the dishes are placed in the center of the kitchen table, usually a low round table, with the diners seated on low stools as seats. In urban houses, there are Western-type dining tables and chairs. There is no specific seating arrangement. Portions from all the dishes are placed on one’s plate and eaten with rice.

The most important eating etiquette is to serve the head of the family or oldest member first. Even if this person is not present at the time, it is customary to reserve the first portion for him or her. Many Myanmar feel that eating with fingers is more conducive to hearty enjoyment of the meal. The hands must be washed first. Only the right hand is used and polite manners dictate that food must never touch the area beyond the first digits.

Generally there is not much conversation during the meal. Talking with one’s mouth full, talking about topics such as body wastes, and making noises are all considered inappropriate and must be avoided at all costs. Eating too slowly, lying down or slouching, and sighing are regarded as being disrespectful at the meal table. If there are guests, they should be pressed to have some more food, and even if they say no, their host may insist on serving them another portion. This is part of the Myanmar hospitality.

FEASTS

A Myanmar feast usually involves an offering of food and other items to monks, with guests arriving later to join in. Such feasts may take place in one’s own home or at a monastery. The number of guests varies from a few close relatives to hundreds arriving at staggered intervals throughout the day. The occasion for a feast may be a birthday, a novitiation (a period of training that a religious novice goes through before being called to a religious life), an ear-piercing ceremony, a christening, or a wedding anniversary. It could be to gain merit for one’s deceased parents or for oneself by donating toward building a new monastery, or offering robes on festival days.

The most sumptuous dishes are served at these feasts. The wealthier the host, the greater the variety of dishes served. Pork, chicken, seafood, hilsa (a kind of fish), and butterfish are made into curries, and it is important that they be cooked to perfection. Many side dishes of salads and delicious desserts are also served.

If the feast is held in the home, close relatives may sometimes bring their offerings of food for the monks. The night before the feast is one of great activity. The living room has to be cleared of chairs and tables, and carpets or smooth mats laid out. Special places are set aside for the monks. If the food to be offered is cooked at home, a small army of cooks composed of relatives—with a repertoire of tasty dishes—and a number of volunteer helpers may be seen peeling and cleaning the onions, garlic, and ginger.

The food to be cooked will have been bought on several marketing trips days before. The food is cooked during the night; the pots are so big that a fire using firewood has to be built outside in the backyard. In the villages all the villagers or neighbors may come to help or at least give support by their presence. If the feast is held in a monastery, it is customary to order the food or have it cooked on the grounds by staff from the monastery.

When the monks arrive, they are offered the food, after which a suitable sermon is delivered and certain sutras chanted to bestow on the audience protection from danger, illness, and misfortune. Then the host and hostess share their merit with all beings, and guests praise the merit by saying sadhu (sah-DOO, meaning “well-done”) three times. Then the guests are served food.

By Saw Myat Yin & Josie Elias in the book 'Myanmar- Cultures of the World', Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, New York, 2012, p.121-129. Digitized, edited and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.