Myanmar is an ideal place for travel-loving people. You not only have the chance to explore the sacred pagodas along the country but also have the chance to taste the unique dishes of this country. Today, I listed the top 6 must-try dishes of Burma for you, as the recommendations for your burma tours.
1. Tea leaf salad
As my experience, the most famed Burmese food is fermented tea leaves as known as Lephet. This is the most typical Myanmar food you should try on your Burma tours. Taste this dish, you can feel the sour and slightly bitter of leaves combine with sliced tomatoes, shredded cabbage and some crunchy deep fried nuts, beans and peas. To make the dish more attractive, they add some garlic oil, slices of garlic and chili.
You can eat this dish as a snack, an appetizer or eat with rice in your meal. The Burmese say this dish is a stimulant because it can prevent sleep. So that, it must be a stunning experience for your Myanmar travel tour.
2. Burmese curry
Curry is the most culinary experience dish you can try in your Burma tours. To taste the most delicious Burmese curry, you should eat it in a traditional Burmese restaurant. These are many choices for you when you try curry, you can eat with fish, pork, shrimp, mutton or beef.
A traditional Burmese curry includes rice, a tart salad, a small bowl of soup, a mall dish of fried vegetables and a large tray of par-boiled vegetables and herbs. The dips are various too. You can choices from a watery, ngapi ye, fish sauce or a dry, spicy mixture of garlic, chilies and fried shrimp.
After your meal, you’ll get a jar of chunks of palm sugar or a lacquer tray containing pickle tea leaves and nuts.
As the traditional dish, you shouldn’t forget to taste curry once in your private Myanmar tour to fullfill your trip.
3. Shan-style rice – Fish rice
Shan-style rice as known as Nga Htamin or fish rice is one of the most typical dish in Myanmar – a Buddhist country. Burmese make this dish from rice, freshwater fish, and garlic oil. The rice can be cooked with turmeric, then topped with the flakes of freshwater fish and squashed into a dish with garlic oil.
You can feel the savory and oily when eating this dish with slides of leek roots, deep-fried pork rinds, cloves of raw garlic. Fish rice can be the best choice for the visitor of Myanmar travel tour who loves spicy food.
4. Tea shop meal
Myanmar’s tea shops are ideal places to enjoy sweet milky tea and also various cousins of Burma. There are many different dishes waiting for you to explore on your Burma tours.
If you go to a tea shop run by ethnic Burmese, you can find noodle or rice dishes.
If you go to tea shop run by Muslim Burmese, you can find deep-fried savory snacks, such as poori or samosas, baked bread such as nanbya.
If you go to tea shop run by Chinese, you often find baked sweet and meaty steamed buns and dim dum.
If you have time or love all of these “style”, you should list down all the tea shops you want to come before your private Myanmar tour, to make sure you don’t miss any chance to taste the dish you love.
5. Deep-fried stuff
When you come go on Burma tours, the one thing you cannot avoid is deep-fried food. There are many choices for you, such as samosas, savory fritters, spring rolls, bread, sweets and many noodle dishes topping with deep-fried crispy garnishes.
But the most worth tasting must be buthi kyaw, this dish is made from deep fried and battered chunks of the gourd. When you eat this dish while it is still hot, the gourd is tender and the fritters are sour or sweet dip with the addition of bean powder.
Be sure to try buthi kyaw when you go on Myanmar travel tour because it worths you a try.
6. Shan-style ‘tofu’ noodles
If you are interested in savory flavors, you shouldn’t miss the chance to taste Shan- style tofu noodle on your Burma tours. Not like the name, it does not make from tofu. It made from chickpea flour as a thick porridge. The food is served over thin rice noodles, which are marinated pork or chicken. The topping is chili oil, pickled veggies, and broth. The taste of this food is so stunning that almost visitor of Myanmar travel tour put it on the “must – eat” list.
7. Burmese sweet snacks – Moun
Myanmar’s sweet snacks as know as Moun are not consumed as dessert as in the West, they are consumed as snacks taking with tea in the morning or afternoon.
The sweetness of moun does not come from sugar, they come from the ingredient such as grated coconut, coconut milk, cooked sticky rice, rice flour, tapioca, and fruit.
The most favorite Burmese sweet snacks ar nwin ma kin and pyit thelet. They are not an only traditional dish but also have the unique taste, that you cannot find it anywhere else. That’s the reason I hope you can try it once on your Burma tours.
8. Nangyi thoke
Last but not least delicious dish in the list I hope you can try on your tour is Nangyi thoke, one kind of dry noodles in Myanmar. Nangyi thoke served over thick round rice noodle, with chicken, slices of fish cake, slices of boiled egg and par-boiled bean sprouts. Unfortunately, I miss the chance to try this dish on my tour, but after reading so many good review of many visitors have go on Myanmar travel tour, I’m sure that I’ll eat it in my next time I can go on this beautiful country.
Hope the list can make your Burma tours more interesting and meaning. Don’t forget to write down all the dishes I commend in your plan and try them with your partner!
