Staying at home amid this whole pandemic thing? It’s probably for the best.
Some of your time maybe spent in the kitchen, but, if you have the ingredients, step away from those instant noodles and educate yourself.
Food writer MiMi Aye has spent her whole life soaking up Burmese food, language, and culture through endless trips to see family and friends in Myanmar, as well as back in the UK.
Here she offers two delicious recipes from her acclaimed book “Mandalay: Recipes & Tales from a Burmese Kitchen.”
Shwe Hpayone-Thi Chet (Golden Pumpkin Curry)
“I’m one of those terrible carnivores and I strongly believe in the (semi-joking) Burmese affliction of a-thar ma-sar yat-de yaw-ga: ‘The illness caused by the failure to eat meat’.
“However, if this gorgeous pumpkin curry is on the table, for once I’ll barely twitch. You can use any winter squash you like – it’s very good made with kabocha squash or crown prince. If you want to make this a vegetarian dish, you can swap out the shrimp paste and fish sauce for an equal amount of Japanese miso.”
(Serves 2 as a main or 4–6 as a side)
Ingredients:
- 90ml groundnut oil or other neutral-tasting oil
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
-1 tsp ground coriander
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp paprika
-8 fresh or dried curry leaves
-2 medium onions, sliced
-1 spring onion, green and white parts, shredded
-4 garlic cloves, sliced
-2cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
-1 butternut or kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin), peeled and cubed
-1 tbsp sugar
-1 tsp shrimp paste (belacan)
-2 tbsp fish sauce
-Rice to serve
Method:
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over a high heat. Add the turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika and curry leaves to the oil and allow to sizzle for a few seconds.
- Now turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, spring onion, garlic and ginger and fry for 10 minutes, until fragrant and the onions have wilted and some have crisped up.
- Add the squash, sugar, shrimp paste and 300ml of water. Stir well. Cover and cook for 25 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Add the fish sauce, stir again and serve with steamed rice.
Mandalay Pe Kyaw (Mandalay Bean Fritters)
“These kidney bean fritters are ridiculously easy to make and dangerously quick to disappear. Like the majority of our fried snacks, they’re vegan, but unlike most, these are just as good reheated in a dry frying pan or in the oven. They should be soft and fluffy inside and have the thinnest, crispest shell outside. Eat these bean fritters with any dipping sauce.”
Makes 10–15 fritters
Ingredients:
-400g tin red kidney beans
-1 red onion, diced
-1 tablespoon self-raising flour
-1 tablespoon rice flour
-1 tablespoon glutinous rice flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1 teaspoon ground ginger
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-½ teaspoon salt
-¼ teaspoon MSG or ½ tablespoon chicken or vegetable bouillon
-groundnut oil or other neutral-tasting oil, for frying
-Dipping sauce to serve
Method:
- Drain most of the liquid from the tin of beans and then empty the beans and the residual sludge into a large bowl. Mash the beans with a fork till they are broken up.
- Add the onion and the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix well.
- Heat a 5cm depth of oil in a large saucepan or wok over a medium-high heat until you can feel waves of heat come off with the palm of your hand.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop one spoonful after another of the bean mixture into the hot oil, until the surface of the pan is covered, but make sure the fritters do not touch. Let them fry for 2–4 minutes, until you can see them brown round the edges and then flip gently and fry for another 2–4 minutes. Remove the fritters with a slotted spoon and drain on plenty of kitchen paper. Serve with tamarind dipping sauce.
Cook’s note: Unlike most fritters these can be reheated easily in a dry frying pan, or in a moderate oven (180°C/160°C Fan/Gas Mark 4).
Mandalay: Recipes & Tales from a Burmese Kitchen by MiMi Aye, photography by Cristian Barnett, is published by Bloomsbury Absolute and was chosen as a ‘Best Food Book of the Year’ by The Observer, The Financial Times and The Mail on Sunday.
