Sour Banyan and King of Lions
A friend brought back this incredible English-language cookbook from a recent visit to Myanmar. The book was first published in 1975 by Mi Mi Khaing, who had quite a distinguished career writing about Burmese life.
It's hard to resist the recipes. Unfortunately, many require Burmese staples - special tea leaves, pressed fish, soybean powder -that are hard to find unless you live in a city with a good Burmese market. And how many American cities have those?
But I did find this delicious recipe for pork. (Shrimp paste can be found at any Chinese or Southeast Asian grocery store. )
Unless you happen to be in the backwoods of Burma, I doubt you'll find any of the ingredients below. Still, just reading these names makes me happy.
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