Blog Archives - Page 2 of 4 - hsa*ba: please eat

I first heard about Yoma Burmese Restaurant from some of you who have emailed me to share your positive experience of eating Burmese food there. I am delighted to chat (via email) with Thawdar Kyaw, who runs the restaurant with her husband, Sai Kyaw, in Boston, USA.

I had an email from Michelle who wanted a recipe for Burmese paratha. It has been some time since I made them and immediately reminded me of our trip to Rangoon in 2004 where we spent one morning watching the paratha being made for our breakfast.

Bananas are a staple in our weekly fruit bag. This week I’ve allowed them to fully ripen in anticipation of making banana jam. Normally bananas or jams are not something I get excited about but I have been thinking about this recipe for several weeks.

Some recipe or another tend to pop up during my conversations with my mother. Today it is vegetarian ‘meat’ made simply with flour and water. It is a recipe my mother learnt from her sister who was taught by the nuns at the Chinese temple in Rangoon.

The autumnal weather in Sydney makes me long for the endless humid days of Asia. Flicking through the photographs we took in Malaysia last year, Christopher and I reminisce about all the fabulous food we ate there. It inspires us to walk down to Paddy’s market despite dark looming clouds and pick up a few ingredients for lunch.

Pestle and mortar are essential to Burmese cooking. The pounding and grinding of ingredients are made easy when you have the right equipment.

The cover image of the cookbook is a plate of bright orange crabs sitting in the kitchen of my Aunt’s house. It was a wonderful meal of crab with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, lime juice, crushed garlic and green chillies. Here’s the story behind it.

I have been dreaming of eating Shan noodles recently and realises nearly 5 years have passed since we were in Nyaung Shwe. It is time to recreate that memorable dish of noodles in chicken soup and tangy mustard greens. A great winter warmer.

Snake beans are simply salted and allowed to ferment given them a tangy taste whilst they remain slightly crunchy. I can’t help but think of sauerkraut and imagine the sour string beans would work equally well with pork or simply fried with dried chillies and onions.