Happy Myanmar New Year!

Happy Myanmar New Year

Shwe Yin Aye ( Cool Aid of Myanmar) Burmese New Year Traditional Dessert

Today is the 1st day of the Month for the Burmese lunar year of 1377. Every year, April 13 is the starting day of water festival. We celebrate the water festival as the celebration of Burmese New Year. It is also Long holidays for all business and government offices. In our childhood days, "Thingyan" Water festival is always in the season of Long hot summer.

There will be questions " Why celebrate with water?". The answer is " Purification from all sins by celebrating with water that will cleanse your body and soul".  And there is always be no school for three months every summer.

For our neighborhood in Myanmar, we share holiday treats such as authentic Burmese food and dessert to our neighbors was also the tradition. It was the happiest time and memories in our teenage years that we did the celebration with water to welcome Myanmar New Year.

From that authentic Burmese Food, I would like to share the Burmese dessert that is called " Shwe Yin Aye". This chilled dessert can beat the heatwave of very hot weather in Burma. Oh! Am I bragging too much?  It can be meant as " Burmese Cool Aid".
Most of the Burmese desserts are generally made with coconut as the main ingredient.

Today, Health experts are encouraged to have the coconut for the good cholesterol. Coconut milk and coconut extract are now popular ingredients on the shelf of most supermarkets.

For every Great food should be " Balanced, Layered and Colored". It is also the most important factor for eye-catching dish. "Taste" is playing the big role of good food.  We can say that too much oil or too much coconut also not really good for one health.


Shwe Yin Aye ( Cool Aid of Burma)( 10 serving)

3 can( 8 oz)         Coconut Milk ( one can for coconut Jelly) ( 2 for Coconut cream milk)
1/2 pkt.               Agar Agar powder( Coconut Jelly Powder)
1 lb                     Sugar
1/4 cup               Sago Balls
1/2 cup               Sweet rice ( Sticky Rice)
10 slices              Sliced white bread

Instruction

Coconut Jelly: 1. In the 8 qt pot, add 0.5 lb. of sugar with Agar Agar powder.
                       2. Add water according to the packet direction.
                       3. Heat the pot with medium-high heat till it boils.
                       4. Turn down the heat when it starts boiling then let it simmer for 10 more minutes.
                       5. Add 1 can of coconut milk to the pot and let it simmer for 15 more minutes.
                       6. Pour all the liquid into the tray and let it cool down until forming coconut jelly.
                         ( It can be done one day ahead and let it chill in the fridge)

Sago Prep.      1. Soak the sago balls in the bowl for one hour (Note: water should be
                         about  an  inch above the sago balls.)
                     2. In 1 qt pot on the stove with medium high heat add 1 qt of water and let it boil.
                     3. Add the soaked sago balls into the pot and stir for a few minutes till all sago balls are translucent without cloudiness in it.
                     4. Let it cool down in the separate bowl and set it aside.

Sweet rice.     1. Cook 1/2 cup of sweet rice in rice cooker. ( should be the same day of                                serving)

Coconut Cream Milk: 1. In 8 Qt. pot, Add 2 qt of water and 0.5 lb. of sugar and mix it nicely till the sugar melt. Heat the pot with the Medium-high heat on
                                   stove for 10 minutes to make sugar syrup.
                               2. Add 2 can of coconut cream into that pot and mix it well then turn down the heat to medium. Then let it simmer the pot for 10 more minutes. Turn off the heat when start boiling and cool it down completely). Then chill it in the fridge.
                           ( Note: It is better to prepare those fixing one day ahead before serving)


Fixing the Dessert Bowl:  In the dessert glass or cup,
                                   1.  Add cut coconut jelly 2 pieces (cubed 2" by 1")
                                   2.  Add 2 tbsp. of cooked Sago
                                   3.  Add 1 tbsp. of sweet rice ( sticky rice)
                                   4.  Add 1 sliced bread ( Better to cut half into two pieces)
                                   5. Then pour 1 cup chilled coconut cream milk on top of those fixings (  1 through 4), serve immediately.
                         ( May add three cubes of ice in the serving bowl to make cooler)
( Taste option: Depends on your own taste, you may add more sugar for sweeter taste.)

Above is the easiest way of making Shwe Yin Aye.
But one ingredient that is called Mont Let Saung ( Pandan Flavored rice jelly). By adding that ingredient will make the difference to try very authentic Burmese New Year Dessert. Most Asian stores carry that freshly made pandan flavor rice jelly but it is optional.

Fifth Taste ( also known as ) Umami

Fifth Taste  also The UMAMI

We might wonder "What is that taste? ". I was excited to learn every new thing about food in my culinary training days. It also reminds me of the time as a student that I enjoyed most. Every day as a culinary art student, I learned all tips and tricks about daily food-related subjects. "UMAMI" was one of the interesting topics too.

There are four types of taste in this world that everybody knows.
"Sweet, Sour, Salty and Bitter" are basic tastes that we deal with our food on a daily basis.
Then wondering "What is UMAMI?". Umami is the fifth taste that culinary professionals are familiar with. For most people in food service who might deal with it every day by not knowing it.
We can define easily and say "It is just MSG".

This type of mysterious flavor can be found in ingredients such as soy sauce, fish sauce, mushroom, Dashi (Japanese Dried Tuna fish), tofu, nuts, cheese, and beans. If we research it, we can find extensive data and history of UMAMI. Dairy products such as yogurt, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and mozzarella cheese are also the umami-rich ingredients too.

The Truffle mushroom is very rich in its umami flavor which also happens to be my favorite ingredient in the mushroom group. People may think the mushroom is ugly and really bitter, but it is really sweet and pungent flavor itself.

The recipe I would like to share today is just a cream of mushroom soup. We all might be wondering how does it relate to Umami. This is because of the rich flavor of mushroom and heavy cream to enhance the taste. Like the instant cream of mushroom soup, it is also easy to prepare for everybody who loves a creamy soup. Despite these similarities, this homemade recipe includes many fresh ingredients and is very beneficial to one's nutrition.

Creamy Mushroom Soup (5 serving)

1.5 cups     Bottom Mushroom fine chopped
1 cups        Heavy whipping cream or  ( 2 cups) half and half
4 tbsp        Flour
4 tbsp        Butter
1 Qt          Chicken Broth ( May use Vegetable Broth for vegetarian)
1 Qt           2% milk
1 tbsp        Parsley fine chopped
2 tsp          Salt
1 tsp          Pepper
1/2 cup      Fine chopped onion
1 count      Bay leaves
1tbsp         Melted butter

Instructions

1. In 6 qt pot, add butter and let it melt with very low heat then add the flour then stir slowly.

2. When the flour no longer sticks to the pan and it starts to blend with butter, add the cream and milk into the pot. Turn up the heat to medium. (May use the handheld whip to stir so there is no longer be the lump of flour in the soup)

3. Do not forget to stir while simmering the cream to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

4. When the cream starts bubbling, add the chicken broth to the soup together with bay leaf.
Then let it simmer with medium-low heat to boil the soup for about 15 more minutes.

5. In the separate stir-fry pan, add the butter on the stove top with medium heat together with chopped onion.

6. Stir the onion with butter to become translucent and flavorful.

7. Then add the chopped mushroom into the pan and cook together with onion for 5 minutes.

8. Add the cooked onion and mushroom into the soup pot then let it simmer again for 15 more minutes.

9. Finally, add the salt and pepper to the soup for your own taste.

10. Garnish with chopped parsley on top before serving in the bowl. It will be nice to enjoy the soup together with toasted French or focaccia bread.