Burmese Cuisine

Burmese cuisine is a distinctive and underrated food culture at the crossroads of India, China and Southeast Asia, blending their influences into something all its own. Its unofficial national dish is mohinga, a fragrant fish-and-rice-noodle soup eaten for breakfast, and its most famous is lahpet thoke, a unique and moreish salad of fermented tea leaves. Add rich, oil-rich curries, fresh crunchy salads, and the sociable culture of the teahouse, and it is a rewarding cuisine to explore.

What you actually see

• Mohinga - the fragrant fish-noodle soup, the national breakfast.
• Lahpet thoke - the unique fermented tea-leaf salad.
• The curries - the rich, mild oil-based curries.
• The teahouse - the sociable teahouses and their snacks.

When to go

Year-round; the sociable teahouses, serving sweet tea, snacks and mohinga, are a beloved institution and a great window into daily life, and the markets offer the freshest, cheapest food.

Honest expectations

Burmese food is less internationally known and milder and oilier than Thai, which some find heavy, though the tea-leaf salad and mohinga are standouts. Street and market food is cheap and good from busy stalls, though take the usual care with water and salads.

Nearby

Yangon has the widest range; the Shan region and each area have their specialities.