Tempura..Tempura..Tempura..

Tempura..Tempura..Tempura..

As we get older, we sometime crave for deep fried food. But consuming large amount that food gives us heart burn and indigestion. Everybody need to balance the diet by eating right portion of food. Deep fried oily food is always popular with any age. Children love to eat potatoes fries endlessly. Even adult like us may need to refrain from eating them for health conscious reason. Although we sometimes join the fun of having those hot and flavorful french fries when our children order that fun filled Fast Food.

In Burma, when we were little, this french cut potato fries were only available at big hotel restaurant. For school age children like us we could easily want to have deep fried vegetable tempura for either snack or meal. Peanut oil is most commonly used in our native land as the country has local peanut farming in upper Burma. I had never heard of peanut allergy when I was in Burma. But after moving from my country, I heard that peanut allergy has become the big deal for some  children. Sometimes it can be deadly too. Nowadays in Yangon (Rangoon), because of changing policies towards Democracy
more American Fast food chain like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Huts are available.
As I arrived in Myanmar( Burma), I love to explore local food are precious for me as we stayed out of our mother land for long time.

One big time memory, that  stays every young college kids is the vegetable tempura at Inya Lake (Popular Land Mark for the College Kids). The dipping sauce that is specially mixed for that Tempura is awesome. That combination temped customers to order more plates as the serving plates are only 3,4 pieces per plates. The Dipping sauce is a mixture of tamarind juice,garlic,fish sauce and Sriracha Chili Sauce. We can also use this sauce as vinaigrette for the summer salad that is mixed with small shrimp bean sprout tempura.

Tempura ( Vegetable and Shrimp with beansprout)( 3 Serving)

Tempura Mix ( prep)

Ingredients

2-3 cups    Rice powder
2-3 cups     Besan powder
1/2 tsp       Salt
1/2 tsp       Chili powder
1  count     Egg
1.5 cup      water

Cut Vegetables

Ingredients

2 qt   Cut Opo Squash (prefer batonnet french cut)
1 qt   Cut Onion (optional)
1 cup Okra, green bean, zukini, cauliflower (optional)

Beansprout and Shrimp Tempura

Ingredients

3 cup Bean sprout
1 cup Shrimp (small)
1/2 cup spring Onion (chopped)

Dipping Sauce Mix

Ingredients

1 cup   Tamarind Juice
1 tbsp  Sriracha Chili Sauce
1 tbsp  Fish Sauce
1 tsp     Small Chopped Cilantro (Coriander)
1 tsp    Roasted Besan
1 tsp    Roasted crushed chili powder
1 tsp    Sugar
Salt and vinegar to taste

Instruction for dipping sauce

1. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl and stir till all are well blended.

Instructions

1. Prep the batter in a bowl and ready for use. Divide the batter into two bowls( for beansprout and shrimp fries) .
2. Cut the vegetable into french batonnet cut ( 1/4"*1/4"* 3")
3. Dip the cut vegetable in the batter
4. Heat the oil about 2 Qt in the dutch oven with medium .
5. Wait till the oil temperature is at 400 degree F . Deep fry the vegetables coated with batter.
6. When the vegetables are golden brown,Strain the vegetable fritters out from the oil and let it sit in the strainer.
7. In the other half of the batter bowl, add the beansprout and shrimp.
8. We may add our own choice of flavor ( such as cumin powder, onion powder,curry powder) but optional.
9. We may follow the same procedure as squash fries.
10. For Serving, in a medium size plate, arrange 2-3 lettuce leave and then arrange the strained vegetable fritters on that green. Serve together with dipping sauce.

Happy Thin_Gyan is also known as Happy Myanmar New Year

Happy Thin-Gyan also Known as 

Happy Myanmar New Year

In April, we always celebrate Myanmar water festival to welcome the Burmese New year.  Children in Burma who are happy to look forward that day because it occurs only once a year to throw water to other people. The signature flower for this month and which is also related to water festival is yellow color fragrant flower the Padauk ( botanical name Pterocarpus Macrocarpus). In the hot Summer season with the strong heat of the sun  people are looking forward for some April Shower to herald the bloom of that flower.
This year as I had to stay in Myanmar for family matters, I got the chance to celebrate Myanmar New Year in my native land.

One unique Burmese dessert that associated with the Thin-Gyan Festival is the boiled Rice ball filled with sweet Jaggery (Palm Sugar). In Burmese  that dessert is called Mont Lone Yay Paw, which means rice balls floating in the water. Sounds funny but the method of cooking that rice balls which suppose to be floating and swimming in the pot of boiling water after it is cooked.

Every Thin-Gyan, this dessert is available in almost every parts of Myanmar as the signature sweet dessert for the celebration. Some small town and villages in Burma, most of the people usually gathered at Buddhist Temple ( traditional community center) during Thin-Gyan for festivities. One fun thing, especially in village is that ladies make the rice ball stuffed with hot green chili in some of the rice ball and just to tease the guys who are flirting with ladies and pouring water onto them. The sweet dessert that include the chili rice ball are served for fun to to see who get hit the spicy one.

Our family tradition for every Thinggyan is making at least one or more sweet dessert for the home and neighbors. We make this sweet dessert every year to celebrate the Myanmar New Year.

This Thin-Gyan, as I was in Burma, we were able to make the traditional Mont Lone Yay Paw at home.

Traditional Myanmar Thin-Gyan Dessert 

( Mont Lone Yay Paw) (5-8 Serving)

Ingredients

3    cups    Glutenous Rice Powder
0.5  cup     Rice powder
2    cups    Chopped Jaggery
1     tsp      Salt
2     cups    Grated Coconut
1.5  cup      Water
2     tsp      Alkaline water

Instruction

1. In the mixing bowl, add both glutenous rice powder and rice powder together with salt.

2. Add the water in the bowl and mix all the ingredient to make the dough.

3. Fill the 6 QT pot with water and heat the pot until it boils.

4 . Put all the Chopped Jaggery in the small bowl .

5. Take about 1 table spoon of dough into the palm and roll with both hands to make a compact rice ball.

6. Then flatten the dough and stuff one or two pieces of Jaggery into the dough.

7. Then seal completely cover the jaggery ( by wrapping the flatten dough around the jaggery) and roll it in the palm using both hands.

8. Put the jaggery filled rice balls into the boiling water to cook.

9. When that rice balls  float in the boiling water, we can pick with strainer
    And put it in the cold water to cool it down.


10. When it cooled, strain them from the water and put them into the individual serving plates.

11. Sprinkle the grated coconut flakes on top of the rice ball to have great garnish with its sweetness.

Spare Ribs has its Own Attitude

Pork spare ribs are one of Chinese delicacy since long time ago. Spare Ribs can be cooked in different Asian styles. As we grow up, we were familiar with pork spare ribs  cooked with pork belly in Burmese Pork curry and spare rib broth with different vegetables.
After being in Minnesota for more than 10 years time, it is amazing to see the growing economy, growing diversity and different types of food.

More and more Asian groceries, Asian fusion restaurants and Chinese restaurants can be seen every year. It is also exciting to see diverse culture and people adapting their taste to Asian food. Raman Stores are now biggest trend in growing food culture also in the Food service industry.  When we arrived in 2001, City of Minneapolis not much choices of Ethnic food. Now we can have different type of food of our interest in Asian food. Every time, I shop at the Asian grocery store, I see more and more European people shopping for asian ingredients. It means that they have interest in those food and they open their option too. But  pork bones are used for broth when I learned at my culinary class and not more than that. In Japanese Raman broth, Pork bones are also playing the big part of making broth for Raman.

 One memory that stay with me is the walk with my dad in the weekends. On some Sunday Mornings, my eldest sister and I had to wake up early in the morning to go for a walk to Shwedagon Pagoda ( "Famous Landmark of Burma"). At that time we stayed in Downtown Government Residence which was walking distance to the Shwedagon Pagoda. Sometimes he treat us Authentic Chinese Tim Sum at a crowded little shop that on ( Maung Khine Street (old name) or Bo Ywae Road ( current) in Downtown Yangon. It was 1978 and China town was also popular food paradise as today.

But one sweet memory associated with the pork was the weekend dinner and movie treats with family. In some weekends, our mom and dad treated us at the Chinese restaurant followed by movies as a family outing. We packed the deep fried spare ribs to eat in the
movie theatre. He treated us dinner at Chinese restaurant and we watched the movie after that dinner. The regular item that we mostly ordered as an appetizer is the deep fried rib coated with bread cramp batter.

Now back to my recipe that I am going to write, as I am saying too much to sell my food story rather than food. You might think it is not fair. The steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce can be made at home like Tim Sum place. And it can be eaten with bread or Chinese style steam buns.

Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients

1 lb       Pork Spare Ribs
1 Tbsp   Dark Soy sauce
1 tsp     Oyster Sauce
1 tsp     Black Pepper
1 tsp     White Pepper
1 Tbsp   Sugar
1 Tbsp   Light soy sauce
1 tsp      Salt
1 tbsp    Corn Starch
1 tsp      Black bean sauce
1 tsp      Garlic chopped
1 tsp      Fresh Red thai chili Chopped
1 tsp      Fine chopped Ginger
1tbsp     Canola Oil

Instructions

1. In the wok on the stove top with medium high heat, heat the oil then add the sugar to make it brown in the heated oil.

2. Then add the pork ribs marinated with the rest of the ingredients other than oil, sugar, ginger garlic.

3. Stir fry until all the ingredients are blended and fragrant.

4. When all the water from the ribs are gone, transfer those into the ceramic bowl or steel bowl.

5 . Cover the bowl with aluminum foil and put that bowl in  bigger pot. The Pot should be filled with 2-3 inches of water to steam that bowl. Steam that pot with medium low heat for 1 hour. Add more water and cook more time if the meat is not tender.

6. We may also use the baking tray fill the water and cover everything and put in the oven with 380 Degree F. Bake it for 1 - 2 hr depends on your own preference of meat tenderness.

7. After testing the tenderness of the meat, we may  serve with Chinese style steam buns. or French Bread to skip the hassle of steaming buns.

Chinese Style Sweet Rice with Meat

This dish is not very strange to anyone who is familiar with Chinese Tim Sum. I t is not really hard to cook and it has the flavorful ingredients too. This dish is served in Cantonese style Chinese restaurant in some other countries and in most south east Asian countries. In America, we could easily find it in most Chinese restaurant which serve Tim Sum.

I made the dish during this Chinese New Year and it was a big thumb up and Crowd pleaser. It is also easy to make and can be stored in the fridge for more than a week. For the home_made version, to skip the hassle, the rice need not  to be wrapped in the Lotus leaves for steaming.
It could be cooked in the rice cooker and also one pot dish.

I did not realize previously, how really good this dish is, as it contains dried shrimp. My cousin who is now retired from her teaching job as she is in her retired age. She told us that food story when we were in middle school. As she was a single who spend time with us every summer. And those days are quite memorable summer in our younger days. She joined our family wherever we travelled during those memorable summers of our younger days.

Some of her funny stories and her love story were like the movies. I believe that she  longed for her first and last love that stayed forever in her heart. She is really kind to me and my sisters. She always in tear when we meet again in our trip. As a human being how could I control my tears when I experience memories related with our dearest friends or family.

Chinese Style Sweet Rice with meat ( Pork or Chicken)( 4-5 serving)

Ingredients

4 cups    Glutinous Rice
1 lb        Pork (or) Chicken ( boneless any type but prefer chicken thigh or pork belly)
2 pieces  Chinese Pork sausage
2 Tbsp    Dried Shrimp
4 Tbsp     Light Soy sauce
2 Tbsp     Dark Soy sauce
5 pieces   Dried Shiitake Mushroom
3 tbsp      Peanuts
2 tbsp      Thin sliced Ginger
1 tbsp     Sliced garlic
1 tbsp     Sesame oil
2 tsp        5 spice powder
1/2 tsp    White pepper
1/2 cup    Canola Oil (or) Groundnut Oil

Meat Prep

1. Cut the pork or chicken into one inch cubes.
2. Mix the pork with one tbsp ginger, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce , and white pepper.
3. In the small pan, add all the meat that is mixed, add enough water to cover,then  boil. Simmer till water has evaporated and the meat should be well-cooked.

Instructions 

1. Thinly slice the Chinese sausages.
2. Soak the dried Shiitake mushroom in water for 2 hours then squeeze out all water and slice thin.
3. Soak the rice in water over night.
4. Soak the dried shrimp for 1 hour
5. In the cooking wok or skillet, add the oil and heat medium high.
6. Then fry the sliced sausage pieces slightly red at the edges, then strain from the pan and drain the excess oil with paper towel.
7. In the pan, add ginger, garlic to stir till fragrant. Then add the meat, dried shrimp,mushroom and peanut and stir for 3 minutes.
8. When all the ingredients are mixed, Add the soaked rice and the rest of the ingredients such as sausages (fried), sesame oil, soy sauce, 5 spice powder and whit pepper.
9. We may also add 1 tbsp of sugar if we like sweetness in the food.
10. Stir it  thoroughly and transfer that rice mix to the rice cooker. Add chicken broth or water about 3-4 cups just above the rice to cook evenly well .
11.we may follow the instruction of the automatic rice cooker, we may skip the rice cooker procedure by cooking on the stove top.

( Note: If we want the rice color to be whiter, we may skip using the thick dark soy sauce.)

 Holidays, Good Food and Great Service

Thai Spicy Fried Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Sauce

During my holiday visit to our motherland ( Myanmar), we visited places and enjoy great food as much as we could within that short time.
As the country is trying ad working its best to build the better future for the next generation, we could see great progress - unbelievable changes and improvements- a year after the election. People also seemed happy to see hope for the future and fruits of real democracy for the next generation to enjoy.

Tourist attraction to different places in Burma is endless . Especially in November, December and January months contributes as  the best season to travel. This is because the rainy season is over and cool winter season too. There is no humidity like monsoon season and so most people can enjoy the outdoor activities.

As we planned ahead, this year we went to Karen State which is in the south eastern part of Myanmar. Hotels and restaurants are crowded because of Christmas time. There are a lot of place to see around there, but we had to cut short the tour to fit within the 4 day trip.

One memorable moment about that trip is the coolest Thai restaurant which gave us the greatest service and awesome food. The unique service,  ideas and kindness of the owner were impressive. He said, he was once stayed in out of Myanmar country and worked hard for his living, and returned home when thing were better after election and also because he need to take care of his parents. This restaurant is family owned and he cares about customer's need and treat everyone with loving kindness.

 As we also happily enjoyed the food and service of that unique Thai restaurant. His many years of oversea food service experience also count  as great service to the customer too. I would strongly recommend that restaurant for every visitors or tourist who has a chance to visit Pha Ann.

Thai food are mostly sweet, sour and spicy so that we could all enjoy any time at home. That reminds me of my father's treat that we ate when we are little as he loved to eat very good food. He made that dish by mixing garlic and green chili with his bare hands. Now, I could imagine how hot it would have been, but he endure it for the love of his family.

This dish is also memorable dish for our family too. It is call Thai Spicy fried chicken with sweet, spicy sauce.

Thai Spicy Fried Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Sauce ( 3 serving)

Ingredients

1 lb      Chicken Thigh Meat or dark meat ( boneless) ( cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
5 cups  Oil (to deep fry)

For Marinate ( Chicken)

2 tbsp   Crushed Ginger
3 tbsp   Sri Racha Chili Sauce
1 tbsp   Light soy sauce
1 tbsp   Chopped Garlic
1 tsp     Black pepper
1 tsp     Paprika Powder
1 tsp     Salt

For Spicy and Sweet Sauce

5 tbsp    Sugar ( more for sweeter taste)
3 tbsp    Fine Chopped Garlic
2 tbsp    Fine Chopped Thai Green Chili
2 tbsp    Fresh Squeeze Lime Juice
2 tbsp    Fish Sauce
3 tbsp    Chopped fresh Cilantro or Coriander
1/2 tsp   Salt

Instruction

1.  Marinate Chicken pieces with all marinate ingredients as above list.
2.  Put it in a bowl or air tight container and store in  fridge overnight.

3.  To Fry:

In the Fryer or pan with medium high heat. Pour all the oil and heat it till 400 d F.
Fry the chicken pieces for 10 or more minutes
When chicken pieces are golden brown. Strained it in the paper towel or strainer.

4.  In the mixing bowl, Add all the ingredients for sauce.
5.  We may add 1 or 2 teaspoon of honey for bolder flavor.
6.  Whip with the spoon or french whip
7.  After the sauce is mixed, add the chicken pieces into that mixing bowl and fold the       chicken pieces with sauce to make sure all the sauces sink into the meat.
8.  We may add more  sugar, fish sauce or salt to suit our own taste.
9.  We may also enjoy this dish with warm cooked Jasmine rice.

( Note: We may mix the sugar with 1 tbsp of hot water before fixing the sauce.)

When the Authentic Local Ingredients Rule...

When we went back to our motherland, it was exciting to see local food and local product that once faded away. During our holiday season, we went back home to meet families and friends. We all enjoyed local food such as sticky rice baked in the bamboo rod, rice crepe, crispy rice cracker and coconut filled sticky rice ball.

In Myanmar ( Burma), the different tribes, with different cultures, have their own identities in portraying local authentic food that makes our people fall in love with. Most of the Burmese Food is tasty and authentically prepared with different ingredients. As for the sweet desserts, those are prepared with the palm sugar. The palm sugar is the most authentic main ingredient that we obtained and produced from the palm trees.

In the meantime of staying in (Myanmar) Burma, I would like to take the opportunity of getting the fresh ingredient to cook rice noodle dish that I fell in love with. The " freshly prepared" rice noodle is fermented and is authentic. Because we always have to cook with dry rice noodle that is imported from other countries.

That fermentation process is complicated and must be precise to yield a perfectly fermented noodle product. In my homeland though, this type of fresh noodle is available at the market everywhere. This savory rice noodle dish is almost similar to Mon_Hin-ga ( Burmese National Food).

Rice Noodle with Catfish Broth ( 5 serving)

( Kho Daung Mont Ti)

Ingredients

1 lb          Boiled Rice Noodle  ( As instruction from the packet)        
1 cup       Onion or Shallot ( Thin Sliced)
0.5 cup     Garlic ( Thin Sliced)
1.5 cup     Oil
1  tsp        Turmeric Powder
0.5 cup     Smashed Lemongrass
0.5 cup     Rice powder
1 lb           Catfish (boneless, skinless)
1tsp          Black pepper
2 tsp         Chili powder
1tbsp        Crushed Garlic ( For the soup)
1tbsp        Crushed ginger ( For the soup)
1 cup        Onion ( Cubed) ( For the soup)
3 tbsp       Fish Sauce
1 cup        Chopped Cilantro
5 tsp         Roasted Besan Powder (optional)
3 egg        Hard Boiled and sliced (optional)
3 Tbsp      Tamarind Juice ( soaked with water and tamarind paste)

Instructions

Making Onion Flavored Oil

1. In the pan, pour 1.25 cup of oil and heat with medium-high.
2. When the oil is hot, add onion ( sliced shallot preferred). Sliced garlic and turmeric powder. Stir frequently and cook until the onion is golden brown.
3. Pour into the glass or ceramic bowl and let it cool down.

Making Soup

1. In the 5 qt pot, add catfish smashed lemongrass, ginger, 1 tbsp fish sauce, a pinch of turmeric powder, two cups of water and boil for 30 minute.

2. When the fish meat is softened take out from the pot. Set it aside.

3. Mix the rice powder with a cup of water and pour it into the soup pot that we formerly boiled fish. and let it simmer for 20 minutes.

4. In the stir fry pan, add the rest of the oil and stir and cook with ginger, garlic, and fish meat together with pepper and fish sauce.

5. When the fish is fragrant with its own flavor, add those into the soup pot together with cubed onion. Then let it simmer for another 30 minutes. Then add salt to your own taste.

6. When the soup is ready,

Fixing one serving:  in the bowl add boiled rice noodle 1 cup, onion flavored oil, 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce, 1 tbsp tamarind sauce, roasted besan 1/2 tsp, top with cilantro and hard-boiled egg.

7. Pour 1.5 cup soup into the bowl and enjoy the noodle while it is hot. We may add roasted crushed pepper for the spicy option.



           

Banana Bread in Myanmar Way!

From the weekly grocery items, Banana, a potassium-rich food, is the one we can't omit to ensure it does not run out at home. The regular daily routine for my husband's lunch bag is one banana with his lunch box on the weekdays. But sometimes he brings it back if he is not hungry. When that old spotted banana which is no longer good to eat as fresh, some American families make them into banana bread.

For me, I like Burmese way of making banana bread since we grew up with this type of sweet baked food. In my memory, my mom's spiritual belief is to make an offering of unripe banana and coconut bowl for the prayer. As my mom is a very traditional and culturally conscious Burmese lady, she always prepares this offering every month, to be kept in our prayer room. When bananas ripen, she made them into various Burmese sweet desserts.

This Banana dessert is sweetened with sugar and coconut milk. But it is easy and worth making at home.
Ripe bananas can be used in other kinds of Burmese sweet desserts in which can be eaten as snacks.
Just want to mention a few are steamed bananas wrapped in bananas leaves, Banana fritters and steamed banana leaf wrapped sticky rice with banana filling.

Banana Bread in Myanmar Way

Ingredients

5 cups  Mashed banana ( Ripen with black spots & soft)
3 cups  Sugar
1 cup    All purpose flour
1 tsp     Salt
1 can    Coconut milk ( 8 oz.)
1 cup    Grated coconut
2 tbsp   Melted butter
1/4 tsp  red color ( food color) (powder or liquid)
2 tbsp   toasted poppy seeds

Instructions

1. Mash the banana in the food processor or chopper ( we may use the strainer and press it down with hand to get mashed banana).

2. Into the mixing bowl, pour all the ingredients together and mix it well.

3. Preheat the oven with the temperature of 375 degrees F.

4. Brush the melted butter to the surfaces of the tray.

5. Pour the banana bread mix into the tray and bake for 45 minutes.

6. After 45 minutes, the top layer surface is getting firm. Take the tray out of the oven and brush with melted butter.

7. Sprinkle the poppy seeds on top of the bread and bake again for 30 minutes.

8. It is ready when the top layer is golden brown.

9. Cool down to room temperature and chill in the fridge.

10. We may cut preferred shape or bite sizes when serving. It is better to serve with cooled from the fridge. Suitable with green tea.