Mohinga  Sunday’s

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From the time I can remember, our Sunday family tradition was to walk the catholic church “St Francis of Assisi” [then Rangoon, Burma] for Sunday mass. Afterwards we would return home for lunch and it was my job, as the youngest of five to wait for the Mohinga seller at the entrance of our home. Without fail I would see her turn the corner with a large bamboo tray on her head and a big pot in the middle of the tray. The pot contained the fish broth, which would be sitting on a small charcoal fire. To this day I am still mystified as to how she would manage to balance everything on the tray, then take it off her head and put it back on without dropping anything.

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She would fill our bowls with as much as we wanted of rice noodles, fish broth and all the garnishes; coriander, fish sauce, sliced eggs, fried onion, fried garlic, chilli flakes and finally a good helping of crispy fried lentil biscuits known as Akyaws. Most of my family would have a second helping before the seller continued on down the road to the next house.

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When I think back, I can almost still the smell the lovely aroma and taste of this delicious Burmese delicacy.

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There are of course several Mohinga recipes posted on various websites and blogs, each trying to replicate the Burmese original.

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Our Burma Star Foods recipe is our mothers recipe, which was made for the first time when she came to the UK in 1966.

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Note:

 

The fish that we use in our recipe is what we consider the closest to the fish we used in Burma. Also the original Burmese Mohinga recipe includes banana bark which is unfortunately quite rare to buy here in the UK.

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Ingredients:

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• Basa Fish (Fresh or Frozen) – 250g

• Onions – 200g

• Ginger – 40g

• Garlic – 40g

• Chicken Stock – 2 tsp

• ​Turmeric – 3 tsp

• Lemon Grass – 1 stalk

• Rice Flour – 2 Tbsp

• Eggs – 4

• Rice Noodles – 200g

• Fish Sauce – (to your taste)

• Vegetable oil – 100ml

• Boiling Water – 1.5Ltr

• Salt – 1 tsp 

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Preparation:

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1. Cut the fish into pieces

2. Liquidise the onion(200g), garlic(40g) and ginger(40g)

3. Hard Boil the eggs(4)

4. Boil the water(1.5L)​

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Cooking Method:

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1. Place the fish(250g) in a saucepan and add ½ Litre of the water. Boil until the fish becomes a little flaky (approximately 10mins). Set aside.

2. Heat up the oil(100ml) in a pot, add the onions, garlic and ginger and fry until golden brown.

3. Add the turmeric(3 tps) and chicken stock(2 tps) then fry for another minute.

4. Throw in the lemon grass(1 stalk)

5. Add the remaining 1L of water to the pot, bring back to the boil, cover then simmer for 30mins.

6. Now add the fish including it's water to the pot and simmer for a further 5mins.

7. Mix the rice flour with cold water until it becomes creamy and pour into the pot. Simmer for a further 5 mins.

8. Add fish sauce to taste. (Do remember that fish sauce is equivalent to salt so take care)

9. Boil the rice noodles in a suitable pot as per the instruction on the packaging.

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serve and Garnish:

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 In a bowl, serve as much rice noodles as you like followed by a generous helping of the Mohinga broth.

 

Garnish with: 

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• a couple of thinly sliced fresh onion rings 

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• a sprinkle of chopped coriander

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• a squeeze of lime or lemon juice

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• a sprinkle of chilli flakes (or try our Crispy Balachaung instead. Yum!)

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• a few slices of a hard boiled egg

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• To add a bit of crunch, Akyaws(fried lentil biscuits) if you have it  

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Enjoy!