Page 36 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

34 BASICS Food and drink
TOP FIVE BEACH RESORTS Meals
Emerald Sea Resort, Ngwe Saung Most Burmese people eat breakfast early in the
See p.111
Ngwe Saung Yacht Club & Resort, morning, often stopping for a bowl of noodles or
Ngwe Saung See p.112 a fried snack at a teahouse. although many hotels
Yoma Cherry Lodge, Ngapali See p.115 in Myanmar do include breakfast in their room
Sandoway Resort, Ngapali See p.116 rates, it’s worth forgoing what is usually a fairly
Myanmar Paradise Beach, Dawei depressing offering of white bread, fried eggs and
See p.172 instant coffee, and venturing out to a nearby
market or teashop for something tastier. Bigger
places may lay out a more interesting buffet
24-hour reception – although, all things considered, spread, sometimes featuring Burmese dishes,
you may find yourself paying $50–70 per night for a although disappointingly few places offer
room not appreciably better than one costing $30. mohinga, the delicious fish-based broth eaten by
rates at top-end accommodation are no many Burmese themselves at the start of the day
bargain either. a few places offer genuinely stylish (see opposite).
and enjoyable lodgings for as little as $100 per one of the Eight Buddhist Precepts (see box, p.35)
night, though you can easily pay double that, and states that good Buddhists ought to eat only after
rates at the very best establishments typically run sunrise and before noon, and lunch in Myanmar is
into the hundreds of dollars. There’s a real paucity consequently taken rather earlier than is common
of good upmarket city hotels. Most of the big in the West (although for all except the most
international chains have yet to arrive in Myanmar devout, this precept is conveniently forgotten
– you won’t find a single Hilton, Sheraton or around dinnertime). Most people tuck into their
Marriott in the entire country, for example – lunchtime noodles or curry between 11am and
although Yangon boasts a trio of fine old colonial 1pm. Make sure to eat your evening meal early
establishments. Many upmarket hotels out in rural too, as many restaurants will be closed by 9pm.
areas like Bagan are attractively presented and a wide variety of snacks and salads fill the gaps
professionally run, although most follow an between meals, and there’s usually some kind of
identikit resort-style template, usually with deep-fried treat available if you’re ever in danger of
bungalow-style rooms with wooden floors and running low on calories. Cakes and sweets are often
furniture (plus a few Burmese artefacts for decora- flavoured with coconut and palm sugar and eaten
tive effect) set among lush gardens. There’s also between meals rather than as a dessert, and it’s
usually a swimming pool and a spa. common to just have a lump of t’ănyeq (jaggery, or
unrefined palm sugar) at the end of a meal.
Food and drink Burmese food

As Myanmar is sandwiched between a brief look around any market in Myanmar will
gastronomic big-hitters India, Thailand reveal the key ingredients of Burmese cuisine:
and China, Burmese food is one of Asia’s onions and shallots, rice and ngapi – a pungent
least-known cuisines. While its food does fermented fish paste that vendors often stick
absorb influences from its better-known incense sticks into to take the edge off the smell. if
culinary neighbours, it remains unique you are at all interested in food, it’s well worth
in many respects: Burmese cooks use seeking out wet markets on your travels (see box,
fewer spices than their Indian counter- p.38). These colourful, messy markets reveal the
parts; Thai cuisine’s chilli and coconut huge range of exotic ingredients that go into
milk are notably absent; and pulses and Burmese cooking, and are often a focus of local life.
beans are used with an abandon that in Burmese cooking it’s considered important to
would be foreign to most Chinese chefs. balance flavours, with sour, spicy, bitter and salty
As with elsewhere in Asia, much of daily tastes combined in each meal; this is generally
life in Myanmar revolves around food done across a series of dishes rather than on a
and mealtimes, and the phrase “Sa pi bi single plate. For example, a mild curry might be
la?” or “Have you eaten?” is a common accompanied by bitter leaves, dried chilli and a salty
greeting. condiment such as ngapi.

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