Welcome to Myanmar! When doing the research for this country, I couldn't figure out why all the recipes were "Burmise..." recipes. Turns out that Myanmar was formerly Burma! From reading briefly about the country, it sounds like a very unstable country in Asia. Several military coups and uprisings, civil wars, and just overall unrest. However, the pictures show such a beautiful country. The population is 54.05 million people and the capital is Nay Pyi Taw. And their national dish is...
Mohinga!
It is a fish soup. When reading through the directions and the recipe, it did not sound super appetizing. And I did have to make a few adjustments based on what was available. I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out! I didn't eat any of the leftovers - Handsome Husband did though. I have this thing about reheated fish - it's just not my thing. Anyways, here's what I did:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the rice across a rimmed baking pan and bake until it is golden, about 20 minutes.
- Cool rice to room temperature, and then use a spice grinder and grind the rice into a powder. Set aside.
- To make the broth, use a large pot and add all the broth ingredients except for the fish. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Add the fish into the pot and cook until the fish is cooked through.
- Remove the fish using a slotted spoon and put it into a bowl. Let the broth continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Strain the broth, and discard the chunks. Rinse the pot, and return the broth to the pot.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered rice and a ladle of broth until no clumps remain. Stir this mixture into the broth.
- Bring the broth to a simmer, stirring often, until the broth starts to barely thicken.
- Turn the broth to low, and continue to cook while preparing the soup.
- To make the soup, heat oil in a wok over high heat.
- Add lemongrass, garlic, and ginger and stir fry for 1 minute.
- Add the cooked fish, paprika, and turmeric. Mash the fish against the wok to make a paste and cook for an additional minute.
- Pour the contents of the wok into the broth and bring to a simmer.
- Add the onions and fish sauce. Simmer for another 5 minutes. (At this point, the broth should be salty - you want salty because the noodles you add later have no salt. Add salt or fish sauce if it needs to be more salty.)
- To make the noodles, bring some water to a boil and add noodles, stirring often. It should only take about 6 minutes to cook.
- Turn off the heat, and let the noodles sit in the water for 3 minutes. Drain.
- Divide the noodles into bowls, and ladle the soup over the noodles.
- Top with hard boiled eggs, cilantro, and lime.
