Burmese Cuisine

Burmese cuisine encompasses the diverse regional culinary traditions of Myanmar, shaped by longstanding agricultural practice, centuries of sociopolitical and economic change, and cross cultural contact with Southeast Asian, East Asian and South Asian neighbors. It is typified by curries and stews, Burmese salads, soups and vegetables served with white rice, and by a prominent use of the aromatic trio of garlic, shallot and ginger, generally without the coconut milk common to other Southeast Asian cuisines, producing a flavor profile centered on sour, salty and spicy notes. Rice is the principal staple after millennia of cultivation, and further characteristic ingredients include lahpet, pickled tea leaves deeply embedded in ritual culture, ngapi, a fermented seafood paste, and noodles served in soups, salads or dry preparations, of which mohinga is the unofficial national dish, alongside Indian breads such as paratha and naan and a wide array of snacks called mont. The Columbian Exchange introduced tomatoes, chilies, peanuts and potatoes, and British colonial rule brought Indian and Chinese communities whose techniques, ingredients and fusion dishes remain integral to modern Burmese cooking.