The Food of Asia. Kong Foong Ling
as you cook. In Korea, where grilled marinated beef is a national dish, many families have their own table-top grill on which to cook bulgogi and galbi ribs.
Braising involves cooking food over a low heat in flavored liquid for a long time, and is ideal for tougher cuts of meat and some vegetables. To red braise meat is to cook it in dark and light soy sauces, star anise or five-spice powder. Chinese cooking wine, and sugar.
Poaching is carried out in water or stock that is barely simmering. The liquid should only just cover the meat which must be fished out as soon as it is ready.
To blanch, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and immerse the food-usually vegetables-in small batches. Cook until they are tender but still crisp.
Many Indian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian. Malaysian, and Thai dishes involve the use of spices, and as each spice takes a different amount of time to release its flavor and aroma, it is important to follow the correct order given when adding spices to the pan. Many spices need to be dry-roasted before use. It is best to do this in a heavy cast-iron pan without oil. Watch the heat carefully, shaking frequently so that the spices do not catch. For maximum flavor and aroma, buy whole spices and grind them just before cooking.
When cooking with coconut milk, it is important to prevent it from curdling or breaking apart. Stir the milk frequently, lifting it up with a large spoon or ladle and pouring it back into the saucepan or wok while it is coming to the boil. Once the coconut milk is simmering, be sure never to cover the pan. Thick coconut milk is sometimes added at the final stages of cooking to thicken and enrich the flavor of the dish. Stir constantly while heating but do not allow to boil.
Cooking rice is a subject that often arouses controversy, and if you have a reliable method, stick with it. Whatever method is used, first wash the rice thoroughly to remove any impurities and excess starch until the water runs clear. The absorbency of rice depends on the variety of rice and its age, with older rice absorbing more liquid. Cooking times depend on the type and weight of your saucepan, and the heat of your cooker. See page 15 for a recipe for plain rice.
"Full of flavor, healthful, sometimes hauntigly Similar to neighboring cuisines, at other times dramatically different, the food of Burma is not complex to prepare at home."
A farmer winnows paddy in the Shan Plateau. Rice is the staple crop in Burma.
BURMA
The undiscovered treasures of this land of gold and gems are its culinary delicacies.
The weekly floating market at Ywama village, Inle Lake, is a colorful affair.
Burma, "The Land of Gold" of ancient Indian and Chinese manuscripts, has one of the Asia's least known cuisines. This is more a result of the country's long period of self-imposed isolation than the intrinsic quality of the food itself. However, as Burma-or Myanmar as it is now officially called-opens its doors to visitors and international business, more people are discovering its intriguingly different cuisine.
The Land and its People
Burma's beginning dates back some 2,500 years, when Tibeto-Burman-speaking people moved from Tibet and Yunnan into the northern part of the country. Kingdoms rose and fell over the centuries, many different tribes arrived and established themselves. The British gained control over the country little by little, annexing it to British India in stages, until the last king was dethroned in 1886. Burma regained its independence in 1946, becoming a socialist republic in 1974. In 1979, the ruling authorities changed the name to Myanmar.
Although religion and tribal customs influence the cuisine of the people of this polyglot land-in which today's specialists have identified 67 separate indigenous groups-it is perhaps the terrain and climate, which have had the greatest effect on regional cuisines. These factors determine the basic produce and therefore influence the dishes prepared by the people living in each area. The Burmese tend to classify their country into three broad areas: what used to be referred to as "Lower Burma," the humid Ayeyarwady delta around Yangon, and the land stretching far south into the Isthmus of Kra; "Middle Burma," the central zone around Mandalay, ringed by mountain ranges and thus the driest area in all of Southeast Asia, and "Upcountry," the mountainous regions which include the Shan Plateau and Shan Hills to the east, the Chin Hills to the west and the ranges frequented by the Kachin tribe to the far north.
The long southern coastal strip of "Lower Burma," Tanintharyi, is washed by the waters of the Andaman Sea and shares a border with Thailand. This region is rich in all kinds of seafood, which is understandably preferred to meat or poultry. While people in other areas of Myanmar eat freshwater fish caught in the rivers, lakes and irrigation canals, this coastal region offers a cornucopia of marine fish, crabs, squid, shrimps, lobsters, oysters, and shellfish.
Flowing in a general north-south direction for some 1,349 miles, the life-giving Ayeyarwady rises in the mountains of the far north, then branches into a maze of rivers and creeks that make up the delta-about 168 miles at its widest. This is the rice granary of the nation. Rice is the staple crop in Myanmar and is consumed not only for the main meals of the day but for snacks as well. It is eaten boiled, steamed and parched; in the form of dough or noodles; drunk as wine or distilled as spirits. A combined coastal length of about 1,492 miles and a network of rivers, irrigation channels and estuaries, particularly in the Ayeyarwady delta region, yields a dazzling array of fresh-and saltwater fish, lobsters, shrimps, shrimp, and crabs. The Ayeyarwady delta supplies the bulk of freshwater fish, sold fresh, dried, fermented or made into the all-important ngapi, a dried fish or shrimp paste (similar to Thai kapi, Malaysian belacan and Indonesian trassi).
Mandalay, where the last king of Burma ruled, is the cultural heart of the fiercely hot, dry plains of central Myanmar. Irrigation has made it possible to expand agriculture from dry rice (which depended on seasonal rain for its growth) to include crops such as peanut, sorghum, sesame, corn and many types of bean and lentil. Various fermented bean or lentil sauces and pastes are used as seasonings in this region, rather than the fermented fish and shrimp products typical of the south. Not having access to fresh seafood, the people of the central plains generally eat freshwater fish, with the occasional dish of pork or beef.
The most populated "upcountry" area of Myanmar is the Shan Plateau, a region of mountain ranges and wide fertile valleys with a mean altitude of 3,443 feet above sea level, adjoining China, Laos and Thailand. A wide variety of food is grown here: rice, wheat, soya beans, sugar cane, niger seed, sunflowers, maize, and peanuts; and vegetables including potatoes, cabbage, cucumber, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, hops, kale, kholrabi, lettuce, mustard, rape, roselle, tomatoes, and chayote. Soups from this region are more likely to be based on beef or pork stock than made with fish or dried shrimps. The soups are not as clear as those found elsewhere in Myanmar, as they are often thickened with powdered soya bean. One example of this is the Shan version of Burmese noodles (kyaukswe), which is based on pork in a soup thickened with powdered soya bean, rather than made with chicken and coconut milk as in the rest of the country.
A Unique Cuisine Evolves
Poised between two culinary giants, India and China, and inspired by the ingredients and styles of Southeast Asia, the cuisine of Myanmar has developed a unique personality of its own. China has had a marked impact on the food of Southeast Asia, including that of Myanmar. Noodles made from wheat, rice and mung peas are perhaps the most noticeable legacy of China. In Myanmar, these are found in noodle soups like mohinga, a spicy, fish-based dish with sliced banana heart that is virtually the national dish. Another widely available dish is chicken in spicy coconut gravy, ohn-no kyaukswe, which includes either wheat, rice or mung pea ("transparent") noodles.
The Indian influence on Myanmar food is seen in the