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tea leaves mixed with a combination of sesame seeds, fried peas, driedshrimp, fried garlic, peanuts and other crunchy ingredients. The slimylookingmass of leaves puts some foreigners off, but it’s actually quitetasty once you get beyond the dish’s exotic appearance. A more userfriendlyversion of the dish is leq-p’eq thouq, where the fermented tea andnuts are combined in the form of a salad with slices of tomato and cabbageand a squeeze of lime. The dish is a popular snack in Myanmar, andthe caffeine boost supplied by the tea leaves makes the dish a favouriteof students who need to stay up late studying.Noodle dishes are prized by the Burmese and are most often eatenfor breakfast or as light meals between the main meals of the day. Thegeneral word for noodles is hkuauq-swèh. The most popular noodle andunofficial national dish is moún-hìn-gà (often spelled mohinga), thin ricenoodles served in a thick fish and shallot broth and topped with crispydeep-fried vegies or lentils. Mohinga is available just about everywhere,but our favourite bowl is at Myaung Mya Daw Cho (p 61 ) in Yangon.Móun-di (also known as mondhi) are spaghetti-like noodles served withchunks of chicken or fish. Another popular noodle dish, especially at festivals,is oùn-nó hkauq-swèh, Chinese-style rice noodles with pieces ofchicken in a broth made with coconut milk.Most, if not all, of these noodle dishes can be sampled at the Yangonteahouses Lucky Seven (p 63 ) and Thone Pan Hla (p 63 ).Regional & Ethnic VariationsLocal cuisine can be broadly broken down into dishes found in ‘lowerMyanmar’ (roughly Yangon and the delta), with more fish pastes andsour foods; and ‘upper Myanmar’ (centred at Mandalay), with more sesame,nuts and beans used in dishes.In Mandalay and around Inle Lake, it is also fairly easy to find Shancuisine, which is somewhat similar to northern Thai cuisine. Populardishes are k’auq sen ( Shan-style rice noodles with curry) and various fishand meat salads. Large maung jeut (rice crackers) are common through-out Shan State.RECIPESOne of theseminal workson Myanmarcuisine is Cookand Entertain theBurmese Way,by Mi Mi Khaing,available in Yangonbookshops.329EATING IN MYANMAR (BURMA) A BURMESE MEALOIL SPILLBurmese food has a reputation for being oily. We won’t deny this, but in its defence willposit that much of this is the fault of the curries.The centrepiece of any Burmese meal, hi‘n (Burmese-style curries) are generallycooked until the oil separates from all other ingredients and rises to the top. The Burmeseterm for this cooking method is s’i pyan, ‘oil returns’, and the process ensures thatthe rather harsh curry paste ingredients – typically turmeric, tomatoes, ginger, garlic,onions and shrimp paste – have properly amalgamated and have become milder. Somerestaurants also add extra oil to maintain the correct top layer, as the fat also preservesthe underlying food from contamination by insects and airborne bacteria while the curriessit in open, unheated pots for hours at a time.The good news is that all this oil isn’t necessarily meant to be eaten, and it’s usuallyeasy enough to work around it. Those who’ve been burned by the spiciness of Thaifood will be pleased to learn that Burmese curries are the mildest in Asia – in fact, mostcooks don’t use chillies in their recipes. It’s also worth mentioning that the most commoncurry proteins you’ll encounter are fish, chicken, prawns or mutton. Relatively littlebeef or pork is eaten by people in Myanmar – beef because it’s considered offensive tomost Hindus and Burmese Buddhists, and pork because the nat (spirits) disapprove.Most importantly, it’s crucial to keep in mind that a curry only constitutes a singleelement of a Burmese meal. The side dishes, which include various soups, salads, dipsand fresh herbs, often have little or no oil.