A burst of Burmese flavours

The book begins with a chapter called “Burma Basicsâ€� â€" 10 prepared ingredients such as fried shallots and toasted chickpea flour which, if you have them ready, make Burmese cooking simple.

“We all start out with salt and pepper as basic seasonings, then move on to a good oil and vinegar,â€� said Duguid. “These Burmese basics just take the palate a notch further â€" your playground gets bigger.â€�

Duguid says all her books are about exploring a culture through food. For the last several years she has also led culinary tours called Immerse Through in Chiang Mai. This year, for the first time, she will also lead ones to Burma: a first trip in February has filled up and, though it has not yet been announced on her website naomiduguid.com, a second one is about to be added.

Here are some her favourite salad dishes from Burma, which involve making most of the basic recipes before you get started.

“Please don’t intimidated,� says Duguid. “You can make them all in less than an hour and keep them in glass jars, handy for whenever they’re needed. Once you’ve got your basic cook’s pantry, then you can leap right into making the salads.�

The word for “salad� in Burmese is thoke, meaning “mixed or blended by hand.�

Intensely Green Spinach and Tomato Salad with Peanuts

Makes: 3 or 4 servings

3/4 lb (340 g) spinach, trimmed of coarse stems

1 medium to large ripe tomato, cut into 1/2-inch (2-cm) dice (about 1 cup/250 mL)

1 tbsp (15 mL) Dried Shrimp Powder (see below)

2 tbsp (25 mL) Chopped Roasted Peanuts (see below)

1 tbsp (15 mL) Fried Shallots (see below)

1 tbsp (15 mL) Shallot Oil (see below)

1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) fish sauce

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt, or to taste

1/4 tsp (1 mL) Red Chile Powder (see below), or a pinch of cayenne, or more to taste

1. Wash the spinach thoroughly in several changes of water. Place in a skillet or wide heavy pot over medium-high heat, cover tightly, and cook until the spinach is wilted and just tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain, pressing out as much water as possible, and set aside to cool. (You will have about 2 cups/500 mL cooked spinach.)

2. When ready to proceed, coarsely chop the spinach and place in a shallow serving bowl. Add the chopped tomato, dried shrimp powder, roasted peanuts, and fried shallots, then add the shallot oil, fish sauce, salt and chili powder or cayenne. Toss lightly to mix.

Succulent Grapefruit (or Pomelo) Salad

Makes: 4 servings

2 medium grapefruits or 1 small pomelo

Scant 1/4 cup (50 mL) thinly sliced shallots, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes and drained

1 tsp (5 mL) Dried Shrimp Powder (see below)

1 tbsp (15 mL) Toasted Chickpea Flour (see below)

2 tbsp (25 mL) Fried Shallots (see below)

1 tsp (5 mL) fish sauce, or to taste

1 tsp (5 mL) Shallot Oil (see below)

1. To segment the grapefruit or pomelo, using a sharp knife, peel the fruit, cutting deeply so that you are cutting the peel and white pith off together and the fruit inside is exposed. (You may feel you are wasting some of the fruit, but in fact this method saves more fruit in the end.) Hold the fruit in one hand, working over a bowl, and slide a sharp paring knife along the surface of one of the membranes. Twist the knife a little to flip the segment free from the membranes and let it drop into the bowl. Work your way around the fruit like this, freeing each segment in turn. Squeeze any remaining juice from the membranes into the bowl.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2012/11/15/a-burst-of-burmese-flavours/