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Myanmar Recipe:

Ohno kauksweCoconut broth noodles

Ingredients:• 4 servings of thin egg noodles • 500 gm chicken, skinned and cut into 2cm cubes• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

• ¼ cup oil• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder• 2 onions peeled and chopped finely• 3 cloves garlic peeled and chopped finely• ½ teaspoon sweet paprika

• 150gm fish paste formed into flat cakes with salt to taste and fried until golden. Cool and cut into cubes

• 6 cups rich chicken broth made preferably from free range chicken, which can be done one day ahead

• 5 tablespoon roasted chickpea powder (‘Useful Information’)

• 12 whole peeled small shallots• 1 cup coconut cream • Salt

1. Knead the chicken pieces thoroughly with the fish sauce and a little salt and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Heat the ¼ cup oil with ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and sauté the chopped onions for 1 minute. Add the chopped garlic and cook ½ more minute and add the sweet paprika. Almost immediately add the chicken and cook until the surface of the meat is sealed. Add the cut fish cake and ½ cup water and simmer until oil sizzles. Set aside. This step can be done one day ahead.

3. Bring the stock to a boil. Dissolve the roasted chickpea powder in ½ cup water until smooth and add to the soup, stirring constantly until it thickens. Add salt to taste. Stir into this soup the cooked chicken and fish balls, and the coconut cream. Boil hard once and lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the shallots 5 minutes before removing the pot from the heat.

To serve, place a handful of noodles in deep bowl and ladle on a generous amount of the soup. Garnish with the sliced raw onions squeezed dry, slices of hard-boiled eggs, chopped green onions and the puffy fried noodles. Set out lime wedges, more sliced onions and roasted dried red chilli powder to add as preferred.

By Ma Thanegi

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Garnish:• A handful of dried rice noodles, deep-fried until puffy• Roasted dried red chilli powder• Chopped green onions and lime wedges• 3 hardboiled eggs sliced in rounds• 2 onions peeled and sliced, soaked in water and squeezed dry just before serving

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M y a n m a r F o l k t a l e

(From Maung Htin Aung’s “Burmese Folktales”)

Once there were two brothers. One brother, who was poor, lived in the forest, while the other

brother, who was rich, lived in the town. One day the poor brother found a golden feather underneath a tree and, on looking up, saw a cock sitting on a branch. He picked up the feather and took it to his rich brother. ‘It is a pretty thing,’ said the rich brother, ‘but of little value. I will give you a silver coin for it.’ The poor brother had never handled gold, and did not know that the feather was of the purest gold. So he thought that a silver coin was a good price for a feather. The next day the poor brother again went to the tree, and

again found a golden. feather, which was also sold to the rich brother for a silver coin. This went on for many days.

One day, as the poor brother stooped down to pick up the golden feather, the cock crowed out repeatedly: ‘If anyone eats my heart, he will find two golden eggs every morning under his pillow.’ The poor brother told the rich brother about this and the rich brother said: ‘If you can bring me the dead body of the cock, I will give you one thousand silver coins.’ ‘I do not want your silver coins,’ replied the poor brother, ‘but I want you to adopt my two boys as your sons, for I want them

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The wonderful cock

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Myanmar Folktale

to grow rich like you.’ When the rich brother promised to adopt them, the poor brother in his turn promised to send him the cock the next day.

Early next morning, he went to the tree and shot the cock with his bow and arrow. Then he sent his two sons with the cock to the rich brother. The rich brother, being a miserly old fellow, had no intention of giving his nephews board and lodging for nothing, and decided to use them as his servants. So he ordered the boys to cook the cock for his dinner. The boys, who wanted to please their uncle very much, cooked it with skill and care, but the heart of the cock jumped out of the pot. ‘Oh, dear,’ said the elder brother, ‘we will have to throw it away: we cannot serve it to our uncle, because it has fallen on the dirty kitchen floor.’ ‘Do not throw it away,’ said the younger brother.”, ‘I am feeling so hungry. Let us halve it and eat it.” So thc two boys together ate up the heart. When the uncle sat down to dinner, he looked in the dish for the cock’s heart, but could not find it. When hc learnt on inquiry that the two boys had eaten it, he felt so disappointed and angry that he drove them out of his house with blows. The two boys went back to their home in tears.

The next day each found a golden egg under his pillow, because each had eaten one half of the cock’s heart. The boys took the eggs to their father who was so angry against the rich brother that he not take the eggs to him, but sold them to a stranger. The stranger, being an honest merchant, gave a good price for the eggs, and only then did the poor brother realize that the rich brother had been cheating him all along over the golden feathers. The poor brother and his two sons daily sold two golden eggs, and became far richer than the rich brother.’

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Air Mandalay Destinations

Yangon

Mandalay

The commercial centre of Myanmar, Yangon still maintains its colonial charm and features wide, tree-lined avenues, tranquil lakes and gracious turn-of-the-century architecture. The magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda dominates the city skyline, while at street-level Yangon is a paradise for those wanting to hunt out exotic arts and crafts. Of particular interest are the many shops in Bogyoke Market and its many jewellery stores are famous for their rubies, sapphires and jade. At night, the Chinatown district comes alive with its street bazaars and night stalls selling snacks and fresh food.

Immortalised by Rudyard Kipling, Mandalay was established in 1857 in accordance with an ancient Buddhist prophecy. It was the final capital of Myanmar’s Konbaung Dynasty before the country was annexed by the British. The city takes its name from Mandalay Hill and is centred around the walls and moat of the old palace, which was destroyed in the fighting of World War II but was rebuilt in the 1990s. Mandalay is considered a centre of Buddhism in Myanmar and is also home to many of the country’s craft industries.

See and Do:* Wander around Shwedagon Pagoda, the 99-metre-

tall (330 foot) stupa that glows golden at night

* Shop in Bogyoke Market, the city’s premier outlet

for precious gems and jewellery

See and Do:* Walk up Mandalay Hill, where more than 2000

years ago the Buddha reputedly prophesied the establishment of the modern city

* Cross the Ayeyarwady River to Mingun, home to a giant unfinished pagoda

BaganOne of the most remarkable archaeological sights in Asia – if not the world – the magic of Bagan has brought visitors to Myanmar for nearly 1000 years. Once the centre of a glorious kingdom, Bagan sits on a dusty plain and thousands of ancient temples dot the landscape as far as the eye can see. Today, apart from spectacular sunset views and serene river cruises, Bagan is also the centre of Myanmar ‘s lacquerware industry.

See and Do:* Take a pony cart around the thousands of ancient

temples that dot the Bagan plain

* Eat out on “Restaurant Road”, the centre of

nightlife in the area

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