1988–present

Opening & Diasporaခေတ်သစ်

The country opens, the diaspora cooks, and laphet thoke conquers menus from Yangon to Oakland. Old dishes, new witnesses.

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Soups & Broths · 55 min · Intermediate

Ar Pu Shar Pu, the Burning-Mouth Bowl

Sittwe's famous hot-and-sour seafood soup — fish, prawns, and squid in a tamarind broth pounded through with green chilies, finished with lime and herbs.

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Salads & Thoke · 20 min · Beginner

Bekang Rawt, Fermented Soybean Salad

Fermented soybeans pounded with shallots, green chili, and salt — the Chin hills' pungent everyday salad, a mountain cousin of natto, eaten with hot rice.

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Street & Fritters · 25 min · Beginner

Fire-Roasted Corn with Chili Salt

Ears of corn roasted dark over open coals and rubbed with pounded chili salt — the taste of a Chin market morning, where maize is the mountain staple.

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Curries · 100 min · Beginner

Chin Smoked Pork with Mustard Greens

Hearth-smoked pork simmered down with mustard greens, ginger, and dried chilies — the Chin hills' frugal, smoke-seasoned answer to a curry, salt its only spice.

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Curries · 35 min · Intermediate

Black Pepper Soft-Shell Crab, Myeik Styleဂဏန်းအခွံပျော့ကြော်

Myeik's farmed soft-shell crab, dusted and fried, then glazed in a dark dry curry of cracked Tanintharyi black pepper, garlic, fish sauce, and palm sugar.

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Salads & Thoke · 35 min · Beginner

Hmarcha Rawt, the Chin Chili-Herb Pound

A fire-roasted chili and garlic relish pounded in the mortar, served the Chin way — beside a platter of plain boiled greens, pumpkin, and hot rice.

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Sweets & Mont · 60 min · Beginner

Kachin Black Sticky Rice with Jaggery

Kachin State's famous black sticky rice steamed to a purple gloss, dressed with dark jaggery syrup, toasted sesame, and coconut — a northern sweet.

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Soups & Broths · 75 min · Beginner

Kachin Herbal Chicken Soup

A clear Kachin chicken broth built on ginger, garlic, and a late whisper of Sichuan pepper, finished with raw herbs — the restorative of the northern hills.

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Salads & Thoke · 45 min · Beginner

Kachin Pounded Chicken Saladကချင်ကြက်သားထောင်း

Kachin pounded chicken salad — smoky grilled chicken beaten in a mortar with ginger, garlic, and Sichuan pepper, then folded with a fistful of herbs.

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Salads & Thoke · 45 min · Intermediate

Kachin Pounded Fishကချင်ငါးထောင်း

Grilled river fish flaked and pounded with roasted chili, Sichuan pepper, ginger, and raw herbs — the smoky, oil-free fish salad of the Kachin hills.

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Curries · 50 min · Intermediate

Kachin Pounded Beef

Seared beef pounded in a mortar with ginger, chilies, herbs, and numbing Sichuan pepper — the nearly oil-free Kachin dry curry that made the mortar famous.

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Soups & Broths · 120 min · Beginner

Kachin Si Htu

Kachin si htu — beef simmered tender with ginger and garlic, then thickened with toasted pounded sticky rice into a warming, feast-day porridge-stew.

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Salads & Thoke · 35 min · Intermediate

Kamar Thoke, Rakhine Oyster Saladကမာသုပ်

Rakhine's oyster salad — plump oysters barely poached, then tossed with shallots, green chili, lemongrass, and lime, and served back on the shell.

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Salads & Thoke · 30 min · Beginner

Kazun Ywet Thoke, Water Spinach Saladကန်စွန်းရွက်သုပ်

The delta's everyday water spinach salad — blanched hollow-stem greens massaged with garlic oil, dried shrimp, toasted besan, lime, and fried garlic chips.

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Sweets & Mont · 40 min · Beginner

Koat Pitha, Banana & Rice Fritters

The Chin-Mizo festival fritter — ripe banana kneaded into rice flour with jaggery and fried into dark, crisp-edged cakes with molten, custardy hearts.

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Salads & Thoke · 40 min · Beginner

Kyauk Pwint Thoke, Myeik Seaweed Saladကျောက်ပွင့်သုပ်

Crunchy seaweed salad from the Myeik archipelago — translucent kyauk pwint tossed with lime, dried shrimp, garlic chips, and warm turmeric-shallot oil.

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Soups & Broths · 140 min · Intermediate

Kyay Oh, the Copper-Pot Soupကြေးအိုး

Yangon's copper-pot noodle soup from Chinatown — a peppery pork-bone broth with rice noodles, meatballs, wilted greens, and a barely set egg on top.

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Drinks & Teahouse · 25 min · Beginner

Magyi Phyaw Yay, Tamarind and Jaggery Coolerမန်ကျည်းဖျော်ရည်

The dry zone's hot-season cooler — tamarind pulp and toddy palm jaggery shaken into a sweet-sour drink over ice, with a pinch of salt to make it sing.

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Noodles & Mohinga · 50 min · Intermediate

Myitkyina Mala Noodlesမာလာခေါက်ဆွဲ

Wheat noodles tossed in numbing-hot Sichuan pepper chili oil with crisp pork and peanuts — the Yunnanese border bowl that became everyday Myitkyina food.

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Sweets & Mont · 35 min · Intermediate

Myeik Cashew Brittle

Golden palm-sugar brittle packed with toasted Tanintharyi cashews and a pinch of salt — Myeik's crackling market sweet, made honestly in one pot.

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Salads & Thoke · 50 min · Intermediate

Fish Cake Salad (Nga Hpe Thoke)ငါးဖယ်သုပ်

Golden fried fish cakes sliced into ribbons and tossed with cabbage, shallots, lime, and garlic oil — a bright teashop salad from Mon State's coastal markets.

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Street & Fritters · 45 min · Beginner

Nga Kin, Banana-Leaf Grilled Fishငါးကင်

Whole fish rubbed with turmeric, salt, and pounded lemongrass, wrapped in banana leaf and grilled over coals — jetty-stall food of the Myeik islands.

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Drinks & Teahouse · 20 min · Beginner

Ohn Thi Yay, Young Coconut Coolerအုန်းသီးရည်

The Tanintharyi coast's roadside drink — young coconut water and soft-spoon flesh over ice, lifted with lime, palm-sugar syrup, and a pinch of salt.

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Street & Fritters · 80 min · Intermediate

Paung Din, the Golden Rock Bamboo Riceကောက်ညှင်းကျည်တောက်

Purple sticky rice packed into green bamboo and roasted over coals until it peels like fruit — the pilgrim snack of the Golden Rock road in Mon State.

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Soups & Broths · 50 min · Intermediate

Kawthaung Sour Prawn Soupပုစွန်ချဉ်စပ်ဟင်းချို

Kawthaung's hot-and-sour prawn soup — a border-town bowl built on roasted prawn-head stock, lemongrass, fresh turmeric, and lime added off the heat.

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Curries · 100 min · Intermediate

Wet Thar Pone Yay Gyi, Bagan Pork Curryပုန်းရည်ကြီးဝက်သား

Bagan's signature pork curry — pone yay gyi braised si pyan style until the oil returns, the sauce dark and sour with fermented horse-gram bean paste.

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Curries · 95 min · Intermediate

Pyar Hin, the Chin Ash Curryပြာဟင်း

Southern Chin State's ash curry — chicken simmered in a filtered corn-cob ash lye with ginger and pumpkin leaves, the mineral-deep pot of Mindat and Kanpetlet.

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Street & Fritters · 40 min · Intermediate

Pyi Gyi Nga Kin, Myeik Grilled Squid Skewersပြည်ကြီးငါးကင်

Myeik night-market squid skewers — scored, bathed in fish sauce and turmeric, charred fast over coals, and served with a tamarind and dried-chili dip.

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Salads & Thoke · 30 min · Intermediate

Pyi Gyi Nga Thoke, Fiery Squid Saladပြည်ကြီးငါးသုပ်

Rakhine's hot-and-sour squid salad — quick-blanched rings tossed with pounded charred chili, garlic, shallots, and lime, with no oil to break the fall.

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Soups & Broths · 90 min · Beginner

Sawhchiar, Rice & Chicken Porridge

The Chin-Mizo comfort pot — chicken and rice collapsed into a ginger-scented porridge, cooked for guests, new mothers, and cold mornings in the hills.

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Soups & Broths · 60 min · Beginner

Talapaw, the Kayin Rice-Powder Soupတာလပေါ့

The Karen signature soup — toasted rice powder thickening a broth of chicken, bamboo shoots, and greens, ladled from one pot at every Kayin gathering.

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Street & Fritters · 120 min · Intermediate

Wet Thar Dote Htoe, the Mandalay Skewer Potဝက်သားဒုတ်ထိုး

Mandalay's street-corner skewer pot — pork simmered on bamboo sticks in a dark anise-scented broth, eaten around the pot with a sharp tamarind-chili dip.

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Salads & Thoke · 25 min · Beginner

Inle Tomato Saladခရမ်းချဉ်သီးသုပ်

Shan salad of Inle Lake's floating-garden tomatoes massaged with garlic oil, crushed roasted peanuts, toasted chickpea flour, and lime — simple and exact.

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Curries · 75 min · Intermediate

Kachin Herb-Pounded Chicken Curryကချင်ကြက်သား

Chicken stewed with a pounded green paste of herbs, chilies, and Sichuan pepper — a bright Kachin mountain curry that skips the oil and plays by its own rules.

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Noodles & Mohinga · 50 min · Beginner

Shan Khao Swè, Noodles from the Hillsရှမ်းခေါက်ဆွဲ

Shan noodles the honest way — flat rice noodles under a jammy tomato-and-pork sauce, finished with roasted peanuts, pickled mustard greens, and garlic oil.