Food Recipe: Burmese Cuisine (Mohinga)

Mohinga, a national Burmese dish

Author: Yup M.

Hey there, foodies!

Today, we will be talking about a type of Burmese national dish and how you can make it. As someone who was born and raised in Myanmar, there are a lot of Burmese cuisine that I love but my absolute favourite would be Mohinga. It's a dish that's usually eaten for breakfast but it can also be consumed throughout the day. I'm going to follow the recipe my mom usually follows for five servings of Mohinga. The recipe takes 30 minutes of prepping time and 50 minutes of cooking time, a total of approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes. There are multiple of steps to follow but they are not hard to follow. The steps are divided into three parts: the broth, the soup, and the serving step.

The first part of the recipe is to make the broth. In order to do that, you need:

• 3 quarts of water
• 3 stalks lemongrass, cut into 3-inch piece
• 1 unpeeled 2-ounce ginger, sliced into slabs
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoons of ground white pepper
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 gutted catfish (about 3 pounds)

The first step is: to make the broth: in a saucepan, add the water, lemongrass, ginger, bay leaves, the black and white peppercorns, and lightly season it with salt. You should then wait for mixture to boil, reduce it to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. After that, add the gutted catfish into the saucepan, bringing the mixture to simmer and cook the fish gently for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes have passed, turn off the heat, gently remove the fish from the broth and reserve it for later.

After the broth is completed, the next step is to make the soup. In order to do that, you need:

• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 stalk of finely minced lemongrass
• 1/4 cup of minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons of minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon of paprika
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 2 peeled and diced red onions
• 1/4 cup of fish sauce
• salt

To make the soup: in a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Then, add the lemongrass, garlic, ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute. Afterwards, add the cooked fish, paprika, turmeric and mash the fish gently with a spoon to turn it into a paste and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. After all that is done, pour the contents into the broth and bring to a simmer. Then, add the onions and fish sauce and cook for 10 minutes, The broth should be on a salty side by then, so season with salt, if needed. 

Before the Mohinga is ready to be served, there is a final step to follow. For that, you need:

• 10 ounces of rice vermicelli
• 1/2 cup of chopped coriander
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced in half
• 2 limes, cut into quarters
• thinly sliced red onions

First, you need to cook the vermicelli in a separate pot of boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the noodles are tender. Then, drain the noodles with a colander and rinse it under cool water. After that, divide the vermicelli evenly among 5 bowls. Afterwards, pour the soup over the vermicelli and top it with the coriander, a half-boiled egg, lime wedges, and the thinly sliced red onions. If you're someone who loves spicy food, you can add chilli flakes on top. Now, the dish is done and ready to be served among 5 people but if you're going solo, you can reserve the remaining vermicelli and the soup in the fridge, ready to eat for another day! 

So, that's it for today! Stay tuned for more food reviews, recipes and recommendations!