Mir’s Reviews > Burma: Rivers of Flavor > Status Update

In Burm each day of the week has its own astrological animal. Probably a hold-over from the pre-Buddhist belief in nats, spirits of the jungle, rivers, and animals.

Monday = Tiger
Tuesday = Lion
Wednesday = Elephant (with tusks if you were born in the morning, without if in the afternoon)
Thursday = Rat
Friday = Guinea pig
Saturday = Dragon
Sunday = Garuda (a mythical winged animal

Sticky-rice sweet buns with coconut look pretty easy if you make extra sticky rice the night before. Just wrap rice around some shaved coconut and palm sugar and fry in a little peanut oil!

Tips:

If using dried coconut, let sit in a little warm water for a few minutes first.

Make work surface absolutely dry or the rice will lose it's stickiness.

Flatten the rice firmly and cut it into strips.

Your choice of vegan or non-vegan semolina cake. The vegan one is more traditional, but fragile due to the lack of eggs. With eggs it is easier to get out of the pan but a bit like halvah.

Burmese crepes are made with rice flour.

If you could rice with coconut milk add a little oil so it doesn't stick to the pan. Leftovers are better reheated gently and topped rather than fried.

Perfume Coconut rice with shallots, cinnamon stick, turmeric.

Although Duguid compares it to polenta, pureed peanut and rice porridge sounds more like congee to me.

Boil a cup of raw, skin-on peanut for an hour. The add a cup of rice and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree.

Okay, I guess that is unlike congee in that you puree it instead of cooking till it dissolves.

Add condiments, meat, noodles, whatever.

White people make cooking rice sound so complicated.

Sour-plum chutney with chile oil

Lemon-grass and ginger sliders! I actually have all the ingredients for these!

3-Layer Pork (i.e. Pork belly) with mustard greens and tofu.

Cut pork across the grain, as thin as possible. In a hot wok, cook onion till translucent, then pork 4-6 minutes. Add sliced sliced preserved mustard greens, stir, cook several minutes. Add tofu and stir gently. Add 1/2 c water, cover, and cook 3-5 minutes.