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The cornerstone of a Burmese meal is, as
elsewhere in Asia, a dish of perfectly cooked, steaming hot and fluffy rice.
This is brought to the table just before or after guests are seated so
that it will be hot. The soup too is always piping hot, but for the rest,
the dishes are placed on the table beforehand and many of the
accompaniments are served at room temperature.
A table set for a meal is a colorful sight.
Browns, greens, reds and yellows feature in curries, vegetables and
accompaniments. The various dishes served should complement or contrast.
Plain soups with rich, and oily curries or stronger soups with mild dishes.
There should always be one chili condiment, one raw salad of leaves, fruit
or vegetables, one soup, one, two or three curries of meat, fish, shrimps
or eggs. Perhaps a bowl of lentils, a home-made pickle, and almost always
that Burmese favorite balachung. There is no set rule as to which
dishes should be served together, so an unlimited number of combinations
is possible.
The table is set with plates for the rice,
bowls and porcelain spoons for soup. It is customary to eat a Burmese meal
with the fingers, but nowadays dessertspoons and forks are also used.
There are some Burmese meals, though, that must be eaten with the fingers
like lethoke dish. In this case a bowl of hot water, soup and a
towel are placed on a side table for hand washing before one is seated.
When one does begin, it is polite to start
with small portions. Not too much rice first, then one tiny helping from
one of the dishes to be mixed with the rice and tasted, then something
from another dish, and so on. When all the dishes have been sampled, the
decision is made whether to stick to one particular dish or to combine
various flavors. Second or third helpings of rice are offered. It is quite
in order to ask for a dish which is out of reach. Spoonfuls of soup are
taken between mouthfuls of rice and curries.
After the meal, the hands are washed again.
In Burma, hot water, soap and towels are brought around by a servant.
Fruit or a cooling sweet and cups of steaming hot tea follow.
Do-It-Yourself Specials
There are certain Burmese meals where a
one-dish specialty is featured, such as moh hin gha, kaukswe,
kyazan or htamin lethoke. These are do-it-yourself specials
where rice or noodles is served with a myriad flavorsome accompaniments
and you create your own masterpiece.
When you sit down to this kind of meal,
there is no guarantee that your food will taste exactly like the next
person's. In fact, it's highly unlikely. You will help yourself from the
same dishes, but from there on, it becomes a no-holds-barred improvisation.
Do you want a gentle seasoned meal? Or one
so hot it brings tears to your eyes? Is it pungent herbs and garlic that
send you on a taste trip? With a Burmese meal of this sort, you'll please
yourself. Add a little of this, a lot of that. There will be chopped fresh
coriander leaf, garlic slices fried crisp and golden, piquant tamarind
liquid, hot chili powder or fried whole chilies, brilliant red chili oil,
rich brown fried onions, sliced spring onions and nutty-flavored roasted
chick-pea powder. Depending on the proportions in which you add these, you'll
create a taste sensation made to order - just as you like it.
These are fun meals. If you feel you need
help, it is considered quite the thing to do as to ask someone if you can
taste their meal or ask them to taste yours and advise on what is needed,
or even to mix your portion for you....all delightfully informal.
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