Fried Beef (Ame Pyot Kyaw)

This is the type of fried beef we grew up eating. It is similar to the Crispy Fried Chicken I've posted in the past where you boil or cook the meat first before frying. It is quite simple to prepare but since it needs to be cooked until beef is very tender, it will take longer time to cook than chicken. I usually use pressure cooker for preparing this. You can adjust the crispiness of the meat during the frying process. The longer you fry the crispier but little harder it will get. Some people like to fry just for few minutes until golden brown so that it is soft and tender. I personally like it quite crispy and almost ‘Jerky’ like so I fry for longer time, which also makes the meat darker in color. Back home, after deep frying the beef, we like to keep the meat in the oil that was used for deep frying and served it that way but I usually drained the oil after frying.

This can be served with Dal, Achin Hin or Eli Palat along with steamed rice.

Fried Beef

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 to 45 minutes

Ingredients:
2 pounds Beef (I used Beef Stew Meat) – cut into 2 x 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons Ginger – grated or finely chopped
2 tablespoons Garlic – crushed or finely chopped
4 tablespoons White Vinegar
3/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Directions:

1. In a pressure cooker pot, combine beef with ginger, garlic, vinegar, turmeric powder, salt and 1/4 cup of water.
2. Pressure cook over low heat for 3 whistles or 3 to 4 minutes after cooker starts steaming, turn off heat and keep aside.
3. Once pressure is released, open the pot and if there is any water left, cook over high heat until all water has been evaporated.
4. Deep fry the beef over medium heat until desired crispiness.
5. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Note: If cooking without pressure cooker, fill enough water to barely cover the beef and cook covered over low heat until beef is tender for about 1 hour. Once tender, open lid and cook over high heat to let water evaporate.

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Pe Pyot (Boiled Peas)

Pe Pyot is commonly served as a breakfast item. If you're from Burma, you might not know how to make Pe Pyot from dry yellow peas but once you have the boiled Pe Pyot, you'll definitely know how to serve it. Back home, we usually do not prepare it from scratch. There are street vendors that sell these boiled Pe Pyots early in the morning. Every area has its own vendor selling freshly boiled and warm Pe Pyot. They only make a basket full each day so you have to go quite early or it will be all gone.

There are different ways to serve Pe Pyot and I love it all. Most popular ways of serving this is by adding to fried rice or cooking with fried onions and serve with Naan or Paratha. It is not difficult to make it but does require time for pre-soaking and sprouting. Since it is a long process, it is a good idea to make a large batch and freeze individual serving sizes in Ziploc bags. I got this recipe from my Aunt few years back. This recipe is only for preparing Pe Pyot from dried yellow peas. I'll post more recipes on how to serve them when I get a chance. For now, I've frozen mine for later use.

Most of the Indian grocery stores carry Yellow Peas and it is known as ‘Vanata’ in Gujarati.

Cooked Yellow Peas

Dry Yellow Peas

Sprouted Yellow Peas

Pe Pyot

Makes: Approximately 10 cups
Soaking Time: 8 hours
Sprouting Time: 36 hours or more
Cooking Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

Ingredients:
4 cups Yellow Pea (Vatana)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Oil

Directions:

1. Soak peas in a large pot with plenty of water (at least 5 to 6 inches of on top) for at least 8 hours to overnight. They will expend for more than double of its size. (I got a little over 10 cups after soaking)
2. Drain water in a large colander, keep colander on a plate and cover the peas with wet towel. Leave it this way for about 36 hours or until it starts to sprout. (Wet the towel 2 to 3 times in between or whenever the towel dries out.)
3. Transfer to a large pot; add all ingredients along with 3 cups of water. Stir or toss to combine and bring it to a boil over high heat.
4. Reduce heat to as low as possible, cover the pot and let it cook for 45 minutes to an hour until it is cooked through and all water has been evaporated. Toss or stir once or twice in between to check water level and doneness of the peas. If water dries out before peas are cooked through, sprinkle some warm water and continue cooking until soft.

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Pickled Mustard Greens

Pickled Mustard Greens are commonly served with noodle dishes in some regions of Burma. Last time when I made Shan Noodles, a thought of having some mustard greens on the side seemed like a good option but I didn’t have them on hand.  Since then, I’ve been thinking of making some but never really got to it.

I remember that some time ago, my dear friend Lely made these pickled mustard greens and I got to taste some. It was very crunchy and tasty with a good sour punch. I really liked it so I asked her for the recipe. It is very simple and easy to prepare.

There are different methods of preparing this from wilting the greens in sun to adding additional ingredients in the pickle. Since this is my first time preparing it, I just want to keep it simple so I followed her exact instructions. Pickling can take anywhere from 3 days to a week depending on the weather. Mine took a week as it was a pretty cold week.

Pickled Mustard Greens
Preparation Time: 15 Minutes
Pickling Time: 3 to 7 days

Ingredients:
2 pounds Chinese Mustard Greens – ends trimmed, washed well and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup Sea Salt (adjust to taste)
2 cups Rice for making Rice Water as stated below

Directions:

1. Place the greens in a large bowl, sprinkle salt and toss well.
2. To make rice water, place rice in a pot or bowl and add about 2 to 3 cups of water or as needed. Scrub and rub the rice well with hands to get the water as cloudy as you can.
3. Pour rice water over the greens and mix well.
4. Place the greens in an airtight glass jar pressing down as much as you can to avoid gaps and air pockets.
5. Fill the jar all the way up with rice water. Close it tight and leave it in warm place for 3 days to one week.
6. It is ready when all of the vegetables are no longer bright green. You can taste to see if it has reached your desired sourness. The longer you keep it out the more sour it will get.
7. Once ready, store it in refrigerator.

Note: I used 1 quart Canning Jar and had some leftover so used one smaller jar for the leftovers greens.

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White Radish Sour Soup

Achin Hin is a sour soup that can be made from variety of vegetables. It usually starts with an onion and tomato gravy with either dry shrimp or dry fish and later different vegetables are added. The taste of the dish as well as the name given will change depending on the type of vegetables used. Most types of Achin Hin will have tamarind pulp to make it sour but when vegetables that are naturally sour are used, tamarind is eliminated.

I love all types of Achin Hin and I like to pair it with some fried chicken or beef, tomato curry, red chili pound, rice and some fresh cut vegetables such as cucumber, white radish or cabbage. A lot of people eat Achin Hin as a soup dish for a meal but I personally like to pour lots of it over the rice and top it up with tomato curry, red chili pound, mix it all up and eat.

White Radish Sour Soup

Serves: 4 to 6
Preparation Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Oil
1 large Onion – finely chopped (about 2 cups)
3 teaspoons Dry Shrimp Powder
1 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper (optional)
2 medium Tomatoes – finely chopped (about 1 3/4 cups)
2 tablespoon Garlic – pressed or finely chopped
1 tablespoon Ginger – grated or finely chopped
2 teaspoons Red Chili Powder
1/8 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
3 tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 pound White Radish (Daikon/Mooli) – peeled, quartered and cut into 1/4 inch slices
2/3 cup Tamarind Pulp (adjust to taste)
8 cups Water or more as required
0.8 pound Chinese Greens (Yu Choy) - discard few inches off the bottom and cut into 2 inch pieces
Salt to taste
1/2 cup Cilantro
4 Thai Chilies or any Green Chili – slit with knife lengthwise; keep stems attached

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large pot over high heat; add onion, a pinch of salt and sauté for about 4 to 5 minutes until onion is translucent.
2. Reduce heat to medium low, add dry shrimp powder, crushed red pepper and continue cooking for about 2 minutes until fragrant.
3. Add tomato, garlic, ginger, red chili powder, turmeric powder, stir and cook for about 2 minutes.
4. Add fish sauce, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until tomatoes are crushed, for about 4 minutes.
5. Add white radish, mix well, cover and cook stirring occasionally for 5 more minutes until radish is translucent. Add little water if it is getting too dry.
6. Once radish is translucent, add 8 cups of water, tamarind pulp, cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat.
7. Add Chinese Greens, salt and adjust soup consistency by adding more water if required. Bring it back to a boil.
8. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot partially and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until vegetables are cooked through.
9. Adjust sourness and saltiness to taste. Turn off the heat, garnish with cilantro & Thai chilies and cover the pot for about 5 minutes before serving.

Variation:
For Vegetarian and Vegan version, skip dry shrimp powder and fish sauce.

Note: Amount of tamarind used for this dish will depend on the sourness of the tamarind itself and the amount of water used in making the pulp. Add few teaspoons at a time and adjust according to your desired sourness of the dish.

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Crispy Fried Chicken

This fried chicken is the way my Mom used to make for us and I love this type of crispy fried chicken. They are so crispy that you can even chew off most of the bones. I believe this method of preparation is quite common in Burma. First to cook the meat with flavoring and later deep fried. I like to use smaller size chicken where one chicken weights about 2 to 2.5 pounds, but no bigger than that. I usually buy one whole chicken and tell the butcher to cut it up into approximately 2 inch pieces. Sometimes, I like to use just the drumsticks. It is good to be paired with some Burmese sour soup or Dal and rice as a meal.

Crispy Fried Chicken

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
2 pounds Bone-in Skinless Whole Chicken - cut into 2 inch pieces
  or Skinless Chicken Drumsticks
2 tablespoons Garlic - pressed or finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons Ginger - grated or finely chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons Turmeric Powder
2 tablespoons Vinegar or Lime Juice
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a pot, mix well to coat chicken with all ingredients.
2. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes until chicken starts to release liquid.
3. Depending on the amount of liquid, adjust heat medium or high and cook until all water is evaporated and chicken is cooked through.
4. Let this cool and deep fry over medium heat in couple batches for few minutes until it is golden brown and crispy. Serve hot.

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Red Chili Pound

This is one of my favorite condiments. It is called chili pound because traditionally each ingredient is deep fried separately and pounded using a Mortar & Pestle. Later it is mixed and pounded again. I usually make it two different ways depending on my mood.

First method is following traditional way but since I don’t own a good Mortar & Pestle, I just use my small food processor to do the job. This method gives you a nice smoky flavor end result.

Sometimes when I don’t want to fry or use food processor, I use pre-ground ingredients to make this. The good thing about this method is that it is easy and fast to make. The downside to this method is during the cooking process the fume of chili could be overwhelming at times. This gives less smoky flavor end result but I still like to make it every now and then.

I like to eat it along with Achin Hin (Sour Soup), Rice, Tomato Curry and some fried meat. You can also pair it with Dal and Rice by squeezing some lime juice in it before serving. This is a condiment so it is usually made spicier to be paired with other dishes. The spiciness will depend on the dried chilies used so adjust according to taste.

Red Chili Pound

Traditional Method

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 ounce Whole Dried Red Chili (use more or less depending on spiciness of dried chilies or taste)
7 cloves of Garlic
1/4 cup small to medium Whole Dried Shrimp
1 medium to large Tomato
Oil for frying
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Fry each ingredient separately over medium low heat with few inches of oil.
2. Fry dried chili until few shades darker and crisp. Fry garlic and dried shrimp until golden brown.
3. Fry whole tomato for a minute or two turning few times to coat all sides of tomato until skin burst and peeled off.  Let cool, peel the skin off and cut in quarter.
4. Using a food processor or mortar & pestle, grind each ingredient separately. Grind chili into crushed red pepper consistency, garlic into fine paste, dried shrimp into fine powder and lastly tomato into fine puree.
5. Combine all ingredients in food processor, add salt to taste and pulse for few times for all ingredients to come together.
6. Transfer to a small bowl and serve at room temperature.

Easy but Smoke Alarm Method

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Oil
1 tablespoon Garlic – crushed or finely chopped
1/4 cup Crushed Red Pepper
2 teaspoons Dried Shrimp Powder
1 medium Tomato – skin peeled and finely chopped
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a small skillet with oil over medium low heat. Add Garlic and stir for few seconds.
2. Add crushed red pepper and while stirring cook for 1 minute or two until it gets few shades darker and fragrant.
3. Add dried shrimp powder and continue cooking until lightly browned. Be careful not to burn it.
4. Add tomato and cook stirring continuously for few minutes until all tomatoes are crushed and everything comes together. Turn off heat, transfer to a small bowl and serve at room temperature.

Variation:
To make it Vegetarian or Vegan dish, skip on dry shrimp.

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Burmese Tomato Curry

This is a type of curry where it is cooked until all water has evaporated and left with a very thick (almost jam-like) gravy.  You can add Shrimp paste (Ngapi, Belacan) in this dish but I prefer without it. Usually, a lot of Burmese dishes use quite a good amount of oil. For instance, this dish would be made with enough oil to be separated and a thick or thin layer of oil lying on top of the dish. However, I’m not using as much oil as that. This dish is good to be paired with Achin Hin (Sour Soup), Red Chili Pound, Rice and some type of fried meat.

Burmese Tomato Curry

Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Oil
1 tablespoon Garlic – pressed or thinly sliced (about 4 cloves)
1 teaspoon Crushed Chili Pepper (adjust to taste) (optional)
1 cup Onion – finely chopped
2 teaspoons Dry Shrimp Powder
2 cups Tomatoes – diced small
1 teaspoon Ginger – grated or finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
2 teaspoons Red Chili Powder
3/4 tablespoon Fish Sauce (adjust to taste)
1 Fresh Jalapeno Pepper or any Green Chili – cut in chunks or thinly sliced
1/2 cup Cilantro – finely chopped

Directions:

1. Heat a pan with oil over medium heat and sauté garlic and crushed chili pepper for few seconds. Add onions and fry for few minutes until translucent.
2. Add dry shrimp and stirring frequently, continue cooking for few more minutes until onions are lightly browned.
3. Add tomato, ginger, turmeric powder, red chili powder and fish sauce. Cook for about a minute, stirring often.
4. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and cook for about 5 to 8 minutes stirring occasionally until tomatoes are soft and all crushed.
5. Increase heat to high and stirring frequently continue cooking until all water has evaporated and gravy becomes like a thick paste, for about 5 minutes.
6. Garnish with Jalapeno and cilantro, cover immediately and let sit for about 5 minutes. Stir once or twice before serving. This can be served hot or at room temperature.

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Shan Khauk Swe (Shan Noodles)

Shan is one of the states in Burma bordering China, Thai and Laos. Their regional food has different types of noodles that are well known throughout the country. This dish is originally from there but I got to taste it when my sister was visiting us and she cooked for us. We loved it so much that I have been making this few times after her visit.

There are different versions of this dish and is usually served with some chicken broth soup and sour mustard greens. This is a dry version and I usually eat it by itself as it does taste pretty good on its own. During her time living in Loikaw (capital of Kayah State, neighboring state of Shan), my sister got this recipe from a lady that sells these noodles.

Recipe updated: Apr 10, 2012
Amount of Red Chili Powder used has been updated.

Shan Khauk Swè (Shan Noodles)

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
For Gravy
2 pounds Tomatoes – slit a cross-shape just through the skin with a sharp knife, at the bottom of each tomato
1 teaspoon Salt
1 pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
3 tablespoon Soy Sauce (adjust to taste)
3 tablespoon Oil
8 cloves of Garlic – crushed or finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1/8 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
4 teaspoons Red Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
2 teaspoon Fish Sauce (adjust to taste)

Other Ingredients:
1 pound fresh Vietnamese Flat Rice Stick Noodle (Banh Pho)
1/2 pound Chinese Greens (Yu Choy) – discard few inches off the bottom; cut into 2 inch pieces and wash well
1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts – coarsely grounded
4 teaspoons Soy Sauce (adjust to taste)

Directions:

1. In a pot big enough to fit all the tomatoes; fill it with 1 cup of water and add salt. Stir and add the tomatoes, cover the pot and bring it to a boil. Once water comes to a boil, cook for about a minute or two, just to loosen up the skin but not to cook the tomatoes.  Remove from heat, pour out the water and leave the tomatoes to cool uncovered.
2. Meanwhile, chop the chicken into as small as you can or about less than 1/4 inch pieces. It will look almost like minced chicken. Add 2 tbsp of soy sauce mix well and keep aside. (I find that partially frozen chicken is easier to work with when chopping it.)
3. When the tomatoes are cool, remove the skin and discard. Cut the tomatoes in half and remove as much seeds as possible without removing any pulp. Discard the seeds, chop the tomatoes finely and keep aside.
4. Heat a pot with oil over medium heat. Once hot, add garlic, turmeric powder, chili powder and cook for few seconds till fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
5. Add chicken, increase heat to high and cook stirring frequently until all chicken pieces turns opaque and it starts to release water. Stir for few more seconds and add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, fish sauce and the remaining 1 tbsp of soy sauce.
6. Stirring occasionally, cover and cook over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes until all tomatoes are crushed and the oil starts to separate from gravy. You should not need any water but if it is too dry, add some water. Turn off the heat and is ready to be served.

How to serve:
Have all ingredients ready before serving. You will have to work with one serving batch at a time.

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. The pot should be big or deep enough with enough water for noodles to be dipped in with a noodle-strainer or any strainer that you will be using.
2. Once water comes to a boil, place a handful of Chinese greens into the strainer and dip the strainer in the boiling water for about 10 to 20 seconds for the greens to wilt.
3. Remove strainer from water, place a big handful of noodles into the strainer. Dip the strainer in boiling water for 3 to 5 seconds. Noodles will cook right away and you don’t want to overcook them, so work quickly.
4. Place the cooked noodles along with the greens to a serving bowl. Ladle couple scoops of chicken gravy on top. Top it up with peanuts, crushed chili and 1 tsp of soy sauce (adjust to taste) and serve immediately.
5. Mix everything before eating.

Note:

• If you cannot find the fresh noodles, dry noodles will work as well. Soak them in cold water for couple hours and cook as mentioned above.
• Since vegetables take little longer than noodles, start with vegetables and add noodles. However, they both can be cooked separately but having vegetables at the base while cooking noodles will help with not overcooking the noodles. 
• If noodles are all over the place and not able to fit neatly into the strainer while cooking, remove from boiling water and make sure that they are not dipped into water while gathering them.  
• Make gravy spicy enough so that you don’t need to add more chili at the time of serving. If not, serve with toasted crushed red pepper.

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Crab Curry (Burmese Style)

I’ve been craving for crab curry for a long time now and finally got a chance to make it. My sister used to make super delicious crab curries for us in the past. She usually makes it either Burmese style as below or Indian style with different spices. We usually use smaller hard shell crabs back home; buy them alive and cook them fresh. Smaller ones are little more work because you have cut and clean them before cooking and once cooked, you have to know how to get the meat out. Of course it is still fun to dig in with both hands and enjoy. However, since I’m really bad with that, my sister usually take out all the meat for us to eat.

Personally for me, since I don’t dare nor have idea on how to cut and prepare the live crabs, I like to use the King crab legs that are already cooked. The other reason I like the King crab legs is because of their size. You get bigger chunk of meat and also easy to eat, even if you’re not an expert on eating crabs. Since I don’t live close to my sister, these are pretty good for now.

Crab Curry (Burmese Style)

Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
4 large cooked King crab legs, about 1 1/2 pounds
3 to 4 tablespoons oil
1 large onion – grind using food processor
2 large tomatoes – cut in big chunks
6 cloves garlic – cut in half
1 inch ginger – sliced
5 Thai chili or any green chili – roughly chopped (adjust to taste)
2 fresh Lemon Grass
Pinch of salt
6 Kaffir lime leaves (if available) – tear them with hand from middle
2 teaspoon red chili powder (adjust to taste)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
Fish sauce to taste
Few sprigs of cilantro – roughly chopped
Lime wedges to serve

Directions:

1. Cut the crab legs from joints to a manageable size. Pierce with knife in some parts of the shell so that flavor can go in.
2. With blender or food processor, grind tomato, garlic, ginger and green chili to a fine paste and keep aside.
3. Remove one or two outer layers of lemon grass and cut off few inches from skinny tip and discard. Smash the root ends with a handle of your knife to release flavor and cut it in half.
4. Heat oil in a large pan over low heat and add grind onion. Add a small pinch of salt and sauté the onions over low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes until they are cooked through and lightly golden.
5. Add chili powder and turmeric powder. Stir once and add the tomato mixture and cook for a minute.
6. Add Lemon grass, Kaffir lime leaves, and fish sauce to taste. Stir and cook covered for about 10 minutes on medium low heat.
7. Add Crab and cook covered for another 20 to 30 minutes, stirring few times in between.
8. Garnish with cilantro and cover the pot for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.
9. Serve with steam rice and wedges of lime to squeeze on top.

Note: Taste while adding fish sauce because too much of it will make the dish salty.

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