In KL, A Mouthwatering Myanmar Moment

'What have you got?'

'Carlsberg.'

'OK, what else have you got?'

'Heineken.'

'But what do you have to eat?'

'Guiness!'

It's a Sunday afternoon in Kuala Lumpur and we're in the midst of an uncommon moment of miscommunication. English is widely spoken in Malaysia, and it's the rare coffeeshop or restaurant that isn't able to scare up a staff member or customer that speaks at least a few words.

Unless said coffeeshop or restaurant lies in the vicinity of KL's bus station. This part of town, the streets and lanes that criss and cross at odd angles behind and on either side of the hulking Kota Raya shopping center, is where Malaysia's migrant workers within a bus ride of KL come to enjoy their day off.

Eyebrows sometimes rise when we mention this area. The term 'snatch thieves' is often bandied about. We probably wouldn't stroll these sidewalks at deepest night (but then, there are many parts of KL that we wouldn't wander at deepest night), but to our eyes the men (it is a mostly male scene) hanging out around here on a Sunday afternoon are engaged primarily in what overseas workers in just about any land do on their days off: visiting with friends, sharing letters and photos from home,

buying and using phone cards,

and doing a spot of shopping.

We like this part of town. Unfamiliar music, indecipherable scripts, unrecognizable languages, new foods ... a walk around here on a Sunday afternoon can seem like a quick, exhilerating trip to any one of a number of other Asian countries - Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines.

Today it's Myanmar.

We've wandered into Shan Restaurant looking for grub, but the only language we and the staff seem to have in common is beer. A glance around the dimly lit restaurant reveals that, yes, most every guy in here has a mug in front of him. While we have nothing against beer, it just doesn't qualify as lunch in our book.

Squinting into the blue TV-lit dimness of the restaurant's rear, we confirm that food is being eaten. And there's an extensive menu on the wall. In Burmese.

No problem. We're experienced travelers and we've been in this situation before. We point. We'll have what they're having.

First up, mohinga Shan khauk swe (Shan noodles), accompanied by plain hin jo (consomme). Cubes of well-cooked pork in a coconuty, fish-scented curry sit atop cool, thin rice noodles. Plenty of chopped peanuts and a shower of chopped coriander add crunch and flavor. A mild, tasty bowlful, especially with an added squeeze of lime and a spoonful of dried, roasted chilies.

Next, we cruise the table of prepared dishes at the back of the restaurant. Truthfully, nothing looks especially delicious. But we love wet-thar gonbaon gyi, a stir-fried dish of diced pork with dried chilies and loads of sweet, caramelized onions and a beef preparation (above) made with dried meat and a cupboard full of dried spices, including cumin and coriander. The beef has a wonderful chewy but not rubbery texture, halfway to jerky.

And we're absolutely blown away by an unidentifiable green vegetable cooked with an astounding number of whole, fresh green bird and dried red chilies to a velvety softness. It's wonderfully sour, searingly hot, and decidedly fishy, just the sort of explosive combination of strong flavors that we adore. After a bit of sign language on my part, a fellow customer tells us it's called chin poung yat ywet ('yat' 'ywet'= 'vegetable'). We suspect that the dish's fishiness comes from the Burmese equivalent of Thai bplaa raa.

On our way out we stop at the small shop in the front of the restaurant, where homesick Burmese can stock up on CDs, DVDs, and ingredients like Burmese dried chile, margosa pickle, and kadetchin (pickled tea leaves) for what might be Burma's other national dish, fermented tea leaf salad.

Despite the language challenge, we're intrigued. We'll be back.

***Thanks to the Burmese commenters who've weighed in with info on the dishes!***

Restoran Shan Taung Dan, No. 16-18 Lebuh Pudu (behind Kota Raya shopping center), Kuala Lumpur. Tel. 03-2031-9299. Open 8am to ?

Comments

[RST]

I am not familiar with that vegetable but I suspect that it is the same as something we've discussed before:

http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2005/10/sour_rice_salad.html

[RST]

On the comments of the above linked post, I wrote about how much I love gongura chutney. Here's something on that. Someone pls confirm: is it the same as this chin poung yat?

http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/category/indian-vegetables/gongura/

[Cupcake]

Yumyum. Looks great. Is this around Jalan Silang (kinda like behind Mydin)?

[Robyn]

Cupcake - it's the street perpendicular to J Silang, behind the Kota Raya (or is it Pasar Raya?)

[Cupcake]

That's behind Kota Raya then. I'm definitely making a trip there to makan all that Burmese stuff. My maternal grandfather was from Burma, btw.

[MeltingWok]

oooh..Burmese meat jerkeys..salty & kinda chewy. Hmm, feel like snacking them looking at your pictures, cheers :)

[Aung Kyaw]

Gongura leaves are like "chin baung ywet" (leaf in Burmese is "ywet", not "yat", by the way), because both are roselle leaves. Yep, it's hard for foreigners to try Burmese cuisine, because it looks unpalatable to a lot of people. Nice pictures by the way--the food looks absolutely scrumptious.

[boo_licious]

Ah, now I know where it is. I was searching for it around Jalan Silang. We tried the one at Sogo which is halal, food is definitely pricier there but also good.

[Robyn]

Cupcake - I didn't know. Any Burmese recipes floating around your family archives? ;-)

Aung Kyaw - thanks for the info. Yat was a fellow patron's stab at romanizing ywet. Any idea what is in that dish ... what makes it sour, is it just the leaves? And do you know what the pork and beef dishes are?

boo - check it out and you can do a high/low Burmese post. ;-)

[Aung Kyaw]

Since the "chin" in "chin baung ywet" means sour in Burmese, I guess the leaves make it sour. I'm sure if you checked out Burmese specialty stores, you can find packaged "fried roselle leaves" ("chin baung kyaw"). I'm not sure what the meat dish is, but I'm guessing it's "Shan pote", with means it's fermented (if the dish is).

[meemalee]

Hiya - your photos and descriptions make me so hungry - especially considering that I just got back from Burma last Tuesday and am missing the food already!

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that the noodle dish at the top isn't mohinga. From the sound and look of this dish, I think it's just yummy porky Shan khauk swe (Shan noodles) served with the obligatory bowl of plain hin jo (consomme). Mohinga is a fish soup with rice noodles (and definitely no meat, coconut or peanuts) garnished with chilli, egg, coriander, lime juice and bean crackers and is served all by itself.

The pork, chilli and caramelised onion dish sounds like wet-thar gon-baon gyi (ie Burmanised Kung Pow pork).

Oh and if you can't get hold of chin baung ywet/roselle leaves, you can use fresh rhubarb instead - it's good fried with bamboo shoots!

I'm Burmese by the way :-)

[Andrew A M O]

It is Hisbiscus Sabdariffa leaves. Yummy authentic Burnese stuff.

[Andrew A M O]

Wished they have another Burmese signature vegetable Dha Hnin Thee (Djinkol Beans).

BTW the blossoms of Chin Paung Ywet (Hisbiscus Sabdariffa)is used for making refreshing drinks in south American couhtries like Mexico, it is called Jamaica.

[Andrew A M O]

My aunt used to make great jam out of Chin Paung Thee (Roselle Jamaica blossoms) that we spread it on sandwitches like PBJ sandwitch to pack for school lunch back in old days in Burma.

Yummy, sweet, sour and alittle bit tangy.