My Recipes of Burmese Food in England

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

I have lived in England for over three years

I did enjoy my stay there and still miss her

I was fortunate to have met my supervisor

She was so kind and motherly to us foreigners;

(MMN with Ph.D. London Gown)

I liked mixing up with the English people

They are courteous and kind if known through

Proper introduction and knew who are you

I did enjoy English theatre and pubs as clues.

(London House Mecklenburgh Square, WC 1, London, England

Where MMN stayed for Three Years With Pantry for Cooking)

I like fish and chips

I ate steak with relish

But I skip mesh potato

I could not eat rarebits solo.

So I cooked some Burmese food occasionally

My palates were used to eating them habitually

My mother cooked typical Upper Burma food daily

My father joined her when he was free and happy.

(Burmese Beef Curry With Spices Cooked by MMN)

What did I cook then?

I once cooked chicken

I put chili onion and oil in frying pan

Then garlic ginger tomato fried

Frozen chicken were added to blend

It became a chicken curry at hand.

(Kalapea Hincho or Burmese Pae Soup Cooked By MMN)

I sometimes cooked beef

I bought pure and diced meat

I followed the pattern of chicken cooking

It was tough and smelly not good for eating.

(Rice Cooked in The Rice Cooker by MMN)

So, I changed the recipe next time

I bought steak beef to soften when boiled

I marinated the beef with acetic acid

Mixed with saffron and soy sauce in the Frig

I cooked it in pressure cooker with Indian spices

I ate with relish with friends who said it was nice!

(A Burmese Meal Ready to be Served By MMN)

I thought frying eggs and making omelets was easy

Once I fried in the pan they became burnt and greasy

Making two sides of omelet yellow needs experience

I learned it only after trying several eggs with patience;

Then I would fry eggs easily for my breakfast or dinner

I would invite friends to join me for any meal in winter

I could feed them with rice and Burmese dishes in no time

They would eat, drink, talk and dine in Burmese style.

(Regular Customers of Burmese Meals Cooked by MMN;

L to R: MMN, YPN, NOM, ESN)

I also tried with goose and duck

I would wash and cut them into parts

Covered with soy sauce, onion, spices and water

I would put in the pressure cooker for half an hour

I found the meat well cooked, fragrant and tender

A salad of cut chili, onion and tomato in lime blender

Made the dinner tastier than the food of the vendors

I did try for friends even after I came back with splendor.

I had the fancy of the game meat

I once bought pheasants and rabbits

The butcher said it would make a great feast

But I cooked it in oil like chicken and found incomplete.

The next time I fried the ginger, onion and garlic

I mixed it with soy sauce, dried chili, salt and tumeric

On getting the smell of spices I put the pheasants neat

About ten minutes of sautéing and stirring made it sweet.

(Parents of MMN who Taught Him How to Cook)

The rabbit could be cooked like frogs

You cut it at joints to make it flop

I then put it in fried spices and tomatoes

Adding a little water to boil it made mellow

A sprinkle of saffron or tumeric made it yellow

It was then sweet and tender just right to swallow.

Cooking pork was easy for me

I was brought up in pork loving family

We have a saying in Burmese for good food

“Pork is the best among meats” to look

“As tea is top among leaves and among fruits

Mango is the best to eat with relish” proved.

I cook pork in several ways

Easiest was to cook mother’s way

You put pork and soy sauce in the pot

Fry it until oil came out oozing from the pork

Then add cut tomato onion ginger and water

We could eat it after a quarter to half of an hour.

I’m an expert in frying sausage

As Monywa is well known for that food made

My father showed me how to fry without oil

Yes, you put water in the pan and boil

Then add the cut sausages until water dries

You move the sausage side to side all the time

Oil will ooze out of the pig intestine (Actually lamb’s intestine)

When all dry and no trace of water but just oil

It’s ready to eat the sausage with lime or in style!

Cooking vegetables is much easier

I could cook them any where even here

Just buy egg plants lady fingers or cauliflowers

Cut them into pieces to make them smaller

Fry spices and tomatoes in the pot or deep pan

Then add the chosen vegetables and stir them

Add some water to make it juicy and soften

Cover with a lid for five to ten minutes to be eaten.

My specialty was cooking chicken “Kalatha-Chet”

That is chicken with gourd cooked with watershed

I fried a little oil with onion, ginger and garlic

I mix it with tumeric chili and soy sauce fluid

When brown I add water to cover the chicks

Boil it for ten minutes and add the gourd in bits

Add some dry lemon laves or lemon grass to peak

It would give you a delicious soup spicy and sweet.

I was famous for cooking Burmese “Kalapea Hin”

It’s Dhal or gram peas cooked in water to brim

You may add chicken, beef bones or vertebra to whims

I just boil it in water to soften it and skim the froth clean

Then I add plenty of onion with some garlic and ginger

I add salt and water later without adding any spices to simmer

When peas are soft and smashed easily I add fried garlic and chili

It gives you a yellowish yummy scintillating soup for your luxury.

I did not cook rice in Burmese way

As it made me foolish and frayed

I just put the rice in the rice cooker

It provided me with a nice soother;

That’s white long grain cooked rice

Steaming and seducing you to bite

It with already cooked dishes at hand

That’s how I enjoyed Burmese food in England!

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

16.03.2009 (original)