Shan State

Virtual Tour – Eating in Kalaw

Every so often I really miss Burma and the delicious variety of foods constantly available there. I spent 6 months or so in Shan State working for a beautiful hotel on the banks of Inle Lake in 1999 and got to know some of the foodways of the surrounding area as well. Kalaw isn’t so far from Inle lake and has a community of Gurkha’s from Nepal brought over by the British. They have such respect and care for their food. Kalaw’s downtown has many fantastic tea shops with their own delicacies. We could even get fresh milk from one of the tea-shops, a real rarity in Burma. When we dropped by in the morning they would be gently heating great batches of milk to make yogurt and other goodies with.

The video shows a good shot into their kitchen. Outside the tea shop a young lad makes samosas while a buddy rolls out the dough for the Burmese donut or Ei kya kwe.

Other treats can be found inside the market in the back corner where the food-stalls are. A busy Shan noodle stand has the best noodles (Shan Kauk Swe) with yellow Shan tofu or tofu chips. A neighboring stall prepares mashed fish and rice (nga htamin) – tastes much more delicious than it sounds, take my word for it.

Thin rice flour pancakes with butter beans and spring onions (yay mont) are another delight or the romantic traditional Burmese snack translated loosely as couples cakes are another option. If you have a sweet tooth the palm sugar soaked cookies are addictive.

Shan Tofu Made From Channa Dhal

Shan Tofu Made From Channa Dhal

I have been meaning to post this recipe for years now I feel terrible for not having posted it before--it is such a simple dish. Shan State in Myanmar (Burma) has a very unique tofu recipe which is made from channa dhal not soybeans. Channa dhal is a bean that is similar to chickpeas but smaller, mo ...

A Shan Romeo and Juliet Story

A Shan Romeo and Juliet Story

Back in 1999, after studying at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park New York, I was highly disillusioned with the US -- the greedy consumer mentality and the increasing amounts of GMOs in the food (which everyone thought I was nuts for being concerned about at the time!) so I fled to Myan ...

Traditional Fire Balloon Festival, Burma

Traditional Fire Balloon Festival, Burma

I was looking back over some of my diary entries during the time I was working in Shan State at a beautiful hotel called Inle Princess Resort on the shores of the mystical Inle Lake. During this time I was training some of the kitchen staff in baking and pastry skills as well as sourcing various bak ...

Traditional Shampoo and Urban Laundry

Traditional Shampoo and Urban Laundry

I first came across soapnuts when I was living in Myanmar/Burma in 1999. I was working at a remote hotel on the shore of the mystical Inle Lake in Shan State. My oven was made from a large barrel and was wood-fired, whenever the kitchen staff noticed me making a move to try to get the fire under the ...

Farmers Markets of Myanmar

Farmers Markets of Myanmar

Click here to view exotic images of farmers markets around Myanmar. Who can resist an open air market? In Shan State they have a very clever system by having their farmers market run on a five day cycle. So, for example, around the mystical Inle Lake, the market will be one day in Nyaung Shwe, th ...

Myanmar Farmer Markets Slideshow

Myanmar Farmer Markets Slideshow

"The Burmese have been forced to maintain their traditional methods of farming and subsistence living, which may in the long run be a blessing in disguise for them and the rest of the world." More... Click here to see images from various markets in Yangon (Rangoon). ...