Shan Rice Salad that we will never forget

(Shan Htamin Chin)

We went to the Shan state of Burma in the December for winter vacation because of the bitter cold Minnesota winter. We have visited that place several times since we were young, but this time it was different. Why you might ask? It was a great family reunion in order to celebrate our parents' 50th anniversary of their marriage. All of our sisters live abroad and tried to make it back to our birthplace to be reunited with everyone. It was a fun, joyful vacation and we visited different places as our families' memorable trip.

Every place we visited, we would always try to find great local food from each different area. One place that we did have a funny moment was on Inle Lake, a large lake in the middle of Southern Shan State. In that place, my mom's appetite called for the rice salad that is unique, delightful, and locally famous. Therefore we asked the boaters who could lead us to the great restaurant in the lake. When we arrived at that place at lunchtime, we were asking whether we could get that food.
The owner said politely, they have other special foods in their restaurant but not rice salad.
Our group is actually upset about not getting that rice salad but we end up having lunch there with other great dishes from their menu.

Actually, we found out that restaurant is popular because of its own signature grilled fish. It also had clean restrooms and wash stations with running water. I was impressed by the restaurant's service and amenities were in the middle of Inle Lake. Customers at this restaurant are mostly foreign tourists.

One memory for this recipe, however, is not food. The place that we had that rice salad over 10 years ago when my son was younger and started to speak English fluently. There were many cats roaming around the table while we ate at a small restaurant near Inle Phaung Taw Oo Pagoda. My son would try to shoo the cats away by speaking in English, but the cats would not understand. With help from his aunt, he was finally able to shoo the cats away by speaking in Burmese. We realized that we needed to adapt our language depending on where we were.

This rice salad has the unique ingredient of dried fermented soybean flakes. It is a highly common staple in the Shan states and has its own flavor, playing a big part in this recipe.

Shan Rice Salad (5 serving)

Ingredients

2.5 cups    Japanese Sushi Rice
1 lb           White Fish fillet
2 cups       Chopped tomato
2 cups       Boiled potato mashed
1/2 cup     Chopped garlic (for garlic fragrant oil)
2 tbsp       Sliced Ginger
1 tbsp       Light Soy Sauce
7 pieces    Dried Fermented Soybean flakes ( Pe Poat)
1.5 cup     Chopped Garlic
1.5 cups    Canola Oil

Prep 1. Making Garlic Flavor oil or Fried Garlic topping

1. In the skillet with medium-high heat, add one cup oil and heat it up.
2. Then add chopped garlic 1 cup into and pan and stir fry till golden brown.

Prep 2. Poaching Fish Fillet

1. In the small pot, add fish fillet, ginger, salt or soy sauce 1tsp. with 1/2 cup of water.
2. Cook with medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes till fish is fork tender. Then cool it down.

Prep 3. Tomato Bean Paste Gravy

1. We need to grill that fermented soybean flake to make it crispy.
2. Then pound it in the pastel or grind it in the coffee grinder to make roughly chopped powder. ( set aside 3 tbsp for rice)
3. In the pan with 0.5 cups of oil on the stove with medium heat.
4. Stir fry the garlic till fragrant then add the bean flake powder and 1 cup of chopped tomato together and stir.
5. When all the ingredients are blended in together, add a cup of water and simmer for 10- 15 minutes. Season with salt to our taste.

Prep 4. Cooking Rice

1. In the rice cooker, add rice and 1 cup chopped tomato with water as instruction and cook.
2. When rice is cooked, add fish flakes, mashed potato, 2 tbsp garlic flavor oil and 3 tbsp soybean flake powder ( from step 2 of prep 3).
3. Put everything together in the bowl, then mix with hand or wooden spoon.
4. When everything is mixed scoop out with small bowl for individual serving and placed in the center of the serving plate.
5. On top of that rice add 1 tsp of garlic flavor oil and 2 tbsp of gravy.
6. Garnish with cilantro or spring onion or chives.

Note: We may enjoy this meal with clear vegetable soup.

Hamburger to Fusion Parata

After moving to the USA, we started finding something to eat easy and fast. Although the majority of food offered here include burgers and we did not mind eating it, we wanted to be able to make it to our own preference.

Once I found out how to make the hamburger meat to our own taste, I found it much easier to work with.
Here in the US, hamburger meat in reality is just ground meat pre-shaped to form the patties for cooking. Personally, I am not the biggest fan, but since it is a great source of protein and iron, I encourage children to eat it. However, I did want to utilize this ingredient into a recipe that is closer to our ethnic food culture. One possibility I discovered was being able to add a spicy curry flavor to the meat. Although we liked the meat by itself to use for the classic cheeseburger, we loved Mexican flavors and seasonings that made the taste similar to the curry flavors.

Of one specific moment I recall, everyone said "Oh my gosh, again!" Yes, I might seem crazy to remember every single childhood memory. My dad and mom brought us to the park near Yangon River named Nan Thidar. The park had a beautiful flower and beer garden and a restaurant that was built upon the river for customers to enjoy the view. It might have been torn down for some reason or other today. At that restaurant, dad bought us the treat of Parata and grilled chicken (being called Chicken Tikka in the menu). Meat filled parata was also in the menu, being another option we ordered, so that we were given the chance to try two types of spicy flavors in our childhood days.

This was yet another fond memory for me and is still vivid to this day as my sisters and I ran along the walkway. Growing up surrounded by a highly diverse culture our father taught us to respect one another and to never criticize other races or religions that were present around us.

Meat Filled Roti Parata (5-6 serving)

1 lb        Ground Beef (Minced goat meat, chicken or turkey)
1 tbsp     Chili Powder
1tsp        Cumin seeds
1tbsp      Julienne Ginger
1tsp        Turmeric powder
1 cup      Chopped Onion
1/4 cup   Mint leaves ( chopped )
1tsp        Sliced Thai green chili
1/2 tbsp  Curry powder
2 bags     Frozen Parata ( 10 pieces)
4 tbsp      Canola oil (For Meat prep)
4 tbsp      Canola oil (For seared Parata)
1/2 cup    Chopped Tomato
1/2 tbsp   Salt
3 Counts  Egg

Instruction

1. In the stir fry pan, add the 1tbsp oil and brown the meat with medium high heat.

2. Strain out the grease from that meat and set aside .

3. We also need to get those prep works ready before cooking such as chopped onion,      tomato, green chili, mint leaves and ginger.

4. When all the prep works are ready, we may use the same stir fry pan on the stove with 3 tbsp oil with medium heat.

5  Add the ginger , cumin and turmeric powder to make it fragrant.

6.  Add chili powder and stir for one minute then add the browned meat and stir.

7.  After stirring the meat, chili are blending well then add tomato and onion together into the pan and cook for 5-10 minutes.

8. Finally, add the mint leaves, green chili and curry powder to the meat mixture. Stir for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to your own taste.

9. We may use that meat with rice for fried rice version too . but for this recipe we need to cool it down that cooked meat before stuffing to the already thawed ( frozen parata).

10. Each parata could hold the 3 tbsp of cooked meat and fold the parata and press to the edges. Get ready. Beat 3 egg in the clean bowl to make it ready and set aside

11. In the flat omelette pan with medium heat, add the 2 tbsp oil then we have to brush the egg wash on both side of the parata and fry it in the pan.

12. When one side is golden brown, flip it to another side to make golden brown again.

We need to cook that parata one at a time in the pan. This savory snack food is suitable for breakfast with coffee or tea. And great lunch option too. We could also use this meat stuffing and cheese with the flour tortilla together to make another version of quesadilla.

Note: We may use meat option as ground chicken or goat meat is fine. For the vegetarian version, we could use the veggie burger from frozen aisle at most of the super market.