ECHOES OF THE PAST
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Two men labor up the steps from the river carrying loaded baskets of tomatoes to the Myitkyina market. A mother and baby at the market steps. One of the last survivors of the Kachin insurgency force that fought the Japanese in World War II.
MYITKYINA, the capital of Kachin State, sits high on the west bank of the Irrawaddy, with a view of the mountains. It’s not as beautiful as you might expect from that description, because the place was so heavily bombed during the Second World War that only a couple of old buildings remain from earlier times. A travel agent in Rangoon had warned me as he sold me my plane ticket that I’d be disappointed in Myitkyina: “There’s nothing of interest left to look at there.” And yet…
Myitkyina is a crossroads: the Chinese border is about a hundred miles to the east, and India lies to the west. During the war the Japanese advanced up the Irrawaddy Valley, chasing the British army before them, and the British then retreated through the mountains into India. Once the Japanese occupied the town, the Burmese Frontier Forces (BFF) waged battle from the hills. It seems like ancient history in some ways, but reminders of that time are everywhere.
At the YMCA one day, I met a Kachin man named Nkula who had served in the BFF. Now in his early eighties, he’d joined the British army as a teenager just before Rangoon fell to the Japanese. He then found himself hiding in the hills fighting a guerilla war against the Japanese for over two years, under the command of a British officer. And now, he told me, there are only seven veterans of the Kachin BFF still alive. In his quiet way he was proud of his war service. No, he’d not received any pension from the British—none of them had. After we talked I watched him as he straddled his motorcycle, lean and lithe and not showing his age at all. And then with a courteous wave, he was off down the road, heading home.
A few days later I got a ride in a jeep from an outgoing man in his fifties with a generous black moustache. I asked him where his father was from. “From Pakistan, the Punjab, but then it was British India,” he said cheerfully. “He came here to Myitkyina with the British during the war. They seconded him to the Americans to work as a driver when they were building the Burma Road.” Once the Allies retook northern Burma, they focused on building this road, a supply route to link India to China; it was finished as the war ended. “My father died just last year,” he continued. “He was ninety-six. You see this jeep? This is the same jeep he drove during the war.” He patted it with affection.
There may not be many old buildings in Myitkyina, but there’s lots of history.
SERVES 4
Tomato is a classic foil for shrimp. Here the combination makes an appealing curry with plenty of sauce for drizzling on rice. Pair it with
Smoky Napa Stir-Fry or a salad of cooked greens.
The green cayenne chiles give a nice little underlying heat; if you want more intensity, add a sprinkling of
Red Chile Powder.
If you find yourself with leftovers, add a little water, taste, and adjust the seasoning, then chill to serve as a delicious cold soup.
Generous 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
¼ cup minced shallots
½ teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons peanut oil
⅛ teaspoon turmeric
1½ cups chopped ripe tomatoes or canned crushed tomatoes
¾ cup water
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 green cayenne chiles, seeded and minced, or to taste
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
About ¼ cup coriander leaves (optional)
1 lime, cut into wedges (optional)
Rinse the shrimp and set aside. If you have a mortar, pound the minced shallots and garlic to a paste.
Heat the oil in a wok or a wide heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turmeric and stir, then toss in the shallots and garlic, lower the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for several minutes at a medium boil, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are well softened and the oil has risen to the surface.
Add the water and fish sauce, bring to a medium boil, and add the shrimp. Cook for several minutes, or until the shrimp start to turn pink, then toss in the minced chiles and salt, stir briefly, and remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Turn out into a bowl, top with the coriander leaves, if using, and put out lime wedges, if you wish. Serve hot or at room temperature.
crayfish curry
For a crayfish version of this curry, use 1½ pounds crayfish in their shells and increase the fish sauce to 1 tablespoon and the green chiles to 4.
SERVES 3 AS A MAIN COURSE, 5 AS AN APPETIZER
This dish is ideal for those who don’t like dealing with fish bones. It comes to the table aromatic with lemongrass and ginger. Be sure not to taste for seasoning until after you have added the lime juice; it brings all the flavors together. Serve as a main course, with a salad or a vegetable side, or as an appetizer.
One 1¾- to 2-pound whole snapper or other firm-textured fish, such as lake perch or trout, cleaned, scaled, and head cut off, or 1½ pounds halibut steaks
¼ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and minced
¼ cup peanut oil
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 or 2 limes, cut into wedges
Rinse the fish. Put about ¾ inch water in a 10- to 12-inch heavy skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add ⅛ teaspoon of the turmeric and ½ teaspoon salt and slide the fish into the water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a gentle boil. Turn the fish over after 3 minutes (2 minutes if using steaks) and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until it is just barely cooked through. Flake with a fork to test for doneness; the flesh should be opaque.
Remove the fish to a platter and let cool for a few minutes. (Set the broth aside for another purpose.) Lift the flesh off the bones and pull it into smaller flakes or pieces; discard the skin and bones.
If you have a mortar, pound the shallots, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass to a paste; set aside. Alternatively, put them in a miniprocessor and process.
Place a wide heavy skillet or a wok over medium heat. Add the oil, then stir in the remaining ⅛ teaspoon turmeric. Add the shallots, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the fish and stir to break it into smaller pieces and to combine it with the oil and flavorings, then add the fish sauce and stir. Cook for several minutes, until the fish is lightly touched with gold.
Transfer to a shallow serving bowl, add the fried shallots, and toss. Add the lime juice and toss again, then taste; add a little salt if you wish. Put out the lime wedges so guests can squeeze on extra lime juice.
SERVES 4 OR 5
Far upriver from the coast of Rakhine State lies Mrauk U, a sleepy tourist destination of villages and Buddhist ruins (see
this page). On my last night there, the main dish for supper at the guesthouse where I was staying was a whole fish—I can’t tell you the kind—cooked this way. It’s a remarkable expression of the Rakhine palate, with chiles, galangal as well as ginger, and a little bitterness from cooked coriander.
You’ll need a pan that is large enough to hold the whole fish (snapper or trout is a good choice), one with a tight-fitting lid to seal the steam in.
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced galangal (see Glossary)
½ lime, including skin, minced
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1¼ to 1½ pounds cleaned whole firm-fleshed fish, such as snapper or trout, rinsed and dried
3 tablespoons peanut oil
½ cup thinly sliced shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 red cayenne chiles, minced, or 4 dried red chiles, broken in half
8 to 10 coriander stalks
About ¼ cup hot water
Combine all the rub ingredients in a mortar or mini processor, and pound or process to a coarse paste. Rub the fish all over with the paste and set aside for 15 minutes.
Place a wide shallow wok or a heavy skillet that is big enough to hold the fish over high heat. Add the oil, heat for a minute, then lower the heat to medium. Add the shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Toss in the chiles and raise the heat to high. Add half the coriander, place the fish in the pan, cover tightly, and lower the heat to medium-high. Cook for about 4 minutes, then add the hot water. Bring to a boil, turn the fish over, add the remaining coriander, cover, and cook for another 3 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through (the flesh should be opaque and should flake when pulled with a fork).
Serve from the pan or transfer to a platter and serve.
River Fish Celebration, served in the pan.
kachin carp curry with herbs
SERVES 4
There are two verions of this dish, which I learned from the cooks at Myit Sone, a Kachin restaurant in Rangoon. On the stovetop, the fish is rubbed with a ginger-garlic-chile paste, poached briefly, and then combined with chopped herbs and cooked a few minutes longer. For the traditional version, which requires wrapping the fish in banana leaves, I use foil that is lined with lettuce leaves.
I’ve made this with carp, which is delicious and traditional, as well as with tilapia and with pickerel, which both work very well.
The chiles in the
flavor paste provide a sharp hit of chile heat; for less, reduce to one chile, or use a milder chile, such as a banana chile.
FLAVOR PASTE
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 green cayenne chiles, minced
¾ teaspoon salt
1½ pounds carp, skinned and cleaned of bones, cut into 1-inch pieces, or about 1 pound tilapia, pickerel, or other firm fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ cup water (if making a stovetop curry)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 cup packed coarsely chopped Vietnamese coriander (see Glossary)
1 cup loosely packed coarsely chopped sawtooth herb (see Glossary)
Scant ½ cup chopped scallion greens
2 green cayenne chiles (if making a stovetop curry)
1 tablespoon peanut oil (if making a stovetop curry)
2 teaspoons soy sauce, or substitute ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
8 large tender lettuce leaves (if steaming the fish in packages)
Salt to taste
2 limes, cut into wedges (optional)
To make the flavor paste: Combine the garlic, ginger, chiles and salt in a mortar or in a small processor and pound or process to a paste. Place the fish in a bowl, add the paste, and stir and toss to coat the fish with the paste.
To make a stovetop curry: Place a large wok over medium heat. Add the fish, with all of its flavor paste, the water, and lime juice. Cover, bring to a vigorous boil, and then cook uncovered until the fish is nearly opaque and cooked throughout, about 2 minutes. Add the coriander and sawtooth herb and stir, then add the scallion greens and chiles. Stir, and cook for another minute. Stir in the oil. Taste and add soy sauce or salt if you wish, stir, and turn out onto a platter or individual plates.
Alternatively, to make a more traditional wrapped steamed curry: Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium heat, or place a steamer over a pot of water and bring to a boil. Cut eight 8-inch squares of aluminum foil.
Add the lime juice, herbs, and scallion greens to the fish and stir to distribute. Divide the fish mixture into 4 equal portions. Place 2 lettuce leaves on one piece of foil. Pile one-quarter of the fish mixture onto the leaves. Fold over two opposite sides of the foil square, overlapping them and making a double fold to seal, then fold over the other two sides, making a double fold again. Place the package seam side down on another piece of foil and repeat the wrapping technique. Repeat to make 3 more packages.
Place the foil packets 5 or 6 inches from the coals or flame, or put in the steamer and cover. Cook over low to medium heat, turning them frequently, until done, 20 to 30 minutes. (Open one package to check for doneness: the fish should be opaque and the aromatics should be tender.) If steaming, maintain a strong boil and steam until done, about 20 minutes.
Unfold each package and turn the leaf-wrapped fish out onto individual plates.
To serve either version: Serve with lime wedges, if desired.
EVOLVING KACHIN COOKING TECHNIQUES: The Kachin of northern Burma traditionally rely on grilling, steaming (in leaf-wrapped packages), or boiling to cook their food. Until recently, they had little access to cooking oils because they lived in the mountains and high valleys of Kachin State. These days, many Kachin have migrated to lower-lying towns and villages in their home state and in other parts of the country. There they have less access to wild-gathered leaves, but oil is more available. This recipe, which uses a dash of peanut oil to great effect, is an example of how Kachin cooking techniques have adapted.
SERVES 6 TO 8
This cross between a stew and a soup, called gaeng pla by the Shan, has a layered depth of flavor that makes it a real keeper. Starting with a paste of ginger, lemongrass, garlic, and shallots that perfumes the water the fish cooks in, the stew gets a balancing acid note from fresh tomato and a little heat from green chiles.
Use whatever fish you prefer, from freshwater options such as trout, tilapia, or pickerel to barramundi, snapper, haddock, or even salmon.
Serve the stew as a main course over rice or, nontraditionally, over couscous or new potatoes. Accompany with a simple vegetable stir-fry and a salad.
¼ cup thinly sliced lemongrass
2 tablespoons sliced turmeric root (see Glossary), or substitute 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons salt
½ cup coarsely chopped shallots
¼ cup coarsely chopped garlic
¼ cup sliced ginger
2 tablespoons minced coriander roots (see Glossary), or roots and stems
½ cup sliced green cayenne chiles
8 cups water
1 cup tomato wedges
2 tablespoons chopped or crumbled toasted Soybean Disk (see Cooking with Tua Nao,), or substitute 2 teaspoons brown miso paste
3 to 3½ pounds cleaned whole fish (see the headnote), cut into steaks about ¾ inch thick and rinsed
Scant 2 tablespoons minced scallions
2 cups loosely packed Thai basil leaves, or a mix of basil and coriander leaves
Combine the lemongrass, turmeric, and a pinch of salt in a large mortar or food processor and pound or process to a coarse paste; set aside. Using the mortar or food processor, make a coarse paste of the shallots, garlic, ginger, coriander, chiles, and a pinch of salt. Combine the two pastes and mix well.
Bring the water to a boil in a wide pot. Add the spice paste, along with the tomatoes, crumbled soybean disk (do not add miso paste now), and the remaining salt, bring to a boil, and boil hard for 10 minutes.
If using miso paste, scoop out a little broth and use it to dissolve the paste, then add back to the pot. Add the fish, including the heads if available, cover, and cook at a medium boil until the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add the scallions and stir, then add the basil (and coriander) leaves, stir, and remove from the heat.
Serve hot or at room temperature.
