Mont Pya Tha Let, Dawei's Layered Griddle Sweet
မုန့်ပြားသလက်
Dawei's signature griddle sweet — thin rice-flour crepes stacked with sticky palm-sugar coconut, pressed warm, and sliced into soft, chewy diamonds.
Also spelled: Mont Pya Thalet
By Burmese Cookbook Kitchen · July 9, 2026
တနင်္သာရီ TanintharyiKonbaung, 1752–1885
၇- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Serves
- 8
- Level
- Intermediate
Say "Dawei" to a Burmese eater and the reply, as often as not, is mont — the deep south's port town enjoys a national reputation as a snack-cake capital, its name attached to a whole family of sweets the way Mandalay's is to noodles. Among the trays of the Dawei mont tradition, mont pya tha let is the emblem: thin rice-flour crepes stacked with palm-sugar coconut, pressed into a soft cake, and sliced into chewy diamonds that pull apart in layers.
Dawei families will tell you the recipe goes back generations, to the town's trading heyday under the Konbaung kings, when its palm groves and coastal rice paddies supplied everything the griddle needed. That lineage is plausible and locally cherished — but it lives in kitchens rather than archives, so take the dating as the town's own testimony. What is beyond argument is that no visit to Dawei ends without someone pressing a slice on you.
Two moments make or break it. The batter must rest so the rice flour hydrates — rushed batter means chalky crepes — and the small share of glutinous rice flour is what gives the layers their gentle, mochi-adjacent chew. Then the stack must be pressed while warm; as the starch cools under the weight, six separate crepes fuse into one cake that slices clean. Made right, it is quietly wonderful — not very sweet, faintly salty, tasting of caramel and coconut and patience.
Press the stack while it is warm — the layers fuse as the rice flour cools, and a pressed mont slices clean where a loose one slides apart.
မီးဖိုချောင်စကား · A word from the kitchen
Ingredientsပါဝင်ပစ္စည်း
Serves 8
Tap to check off as you gather
For the crepes
- rice flour
- glutinous rice flour — this small share is what makes the layers chewy rather than crumbly
- coconut milk
- water
- salt
- peanut oil — for the griddle
For the filling
- palm sugar (jaggery) — chopped
- water
- grated coconut — fresh or frozen; desiccated works if soaked 10 minutes in warm water and squeezed
- salt
- sesame seeds — toasted, for the top
Methodချက်နည်း
Tap a numeral as you finish each step
Step 1: Rest the batter
Whisk both flours with the salt, coconut milk, and water until smooth — it should be the thickness of pouring cream. Rest it 20 minutes. Rice flour does not hydrate on contact the way wheat flour does; unrested batter griddles into crepes with a faint chalky grain instead of a supple sheet.
Step 2: Cook the coconut filling
Melt the palm sugar with the water in a wide pan and strain it back in if your jaggery carries grit, as much of it honestly does. Add the grated coconut and salt and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the mixture turns glossy, sticky, and deep amber. It should clump softly on the spoon — dry enough to spread, wet enough to glue the layers.
Step 3: Griddle the crepes
Heat a lightly oiled pan over medium heat and pour in a small ladle of batter, swirling it to a thin round about 18 cm across. Cook until the surface sets and the underside is freckled pale gold — about 2 minutes — then flip for 30 seconds more. You want them supple, not crisp; a browned, brittle crepe will crack when the stack is pressed. Repeat for 6 crepes, stacking them under a cloth.
Step 4: Build the stack
On a plate, lay down a crepe and spread a fifth of the warm filling to the edges. Repeat — crepe, filling — ending with a bare crepe on top. Work while everything is warm so the palm-sugar coconut stays spreadable and settles into the crepe's surface instead of sitting on it.
Step 5: Press, rest, slice
Set a flat plate on the stack and weight it with something modest — a filled kettle does nicely — for 20 minutes as it cools. The starch firms as it cools and welds the layers into a single sliceable cake. Scatter the sesame over, then cut into diamonds with a wet knife and serve at room temperature with green tea.
ခွက်ယောက် · The tools
Equipment
Flat griddle
သံပြားFor mont lin ma yar’s dimpled pan cousin jobs, flatbreads, and toasting — cast iron holds the heat steady.
Shop on Amazon →Fine sieve / muslin
စစ်ခွက်For straining tamarind, pressing broth clear, and sifting flours — line it with muslin for the cleanest pour.
Shop on Amazon →Box grater / microplane
ခြစ်စက်Fine ginger, green papaya shreds, and toddy-palm jaggery shavings.
Shop on Amazon →Heavy kettle
ရေနွေးအိုးTeahouse tea starts with water at a hard rolling boil — and lots of it, all morning.
Shop on Amazon →
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ဟင်းစုံ · Set the table
A Burmese meal is a spread
A mont wants a cup of something beside it:
How a Burmese meal is built →Questions from the kitchen
My layers slide apart when I slice. What went wrong?
Either the filling was cooked too dry to glue, or the stack was never pressed while warm. The 20 weighted minutes are not optional — that is when the cooling starch fuses crepe to filling. If you are already past it, chill the stack an hour and slice cold; less tender, but it holds.
Can I use brown sugar instead of jaggery?
Dark brown sugar with a pinch of salt gets within shouting distance, but palm sugar carries a smoky, almost caramel-tobacco depth that defines the filling. If this sweet is worth making, it is worth the trip for real jaggery — one block keeps for months.
How long does it keep?
A day at room temperature under a cloth, which is how Dawei snack trays hold it. The fridge stales rice flour fast — if you must chill it, bring slices back with 15 seconds of steam or a brief covered warm-up in a pan before serving.
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