Food & Drink
Food: It is quite cheap in Myanmar and the availability and quality of Burmese cuisine has improved in recent years. Ethnic dishes such as Chinese and Indian foods are popular as well, but these can only be found in the larger cities and towns. Regional food can be tried at street and market stalls, but you must be careful with hygiene. Burmese are lovers of snacks and you'll find plenty of street stalls selling these towards the evening.
The traditional breakfast is varied, composed of fried rice and peas, nan pya (Indian bread) and cream or goat-leg soup, monhingar, nangyi, coconut noodles, assorted fried vegetables, steamed glutinous rice and peas. Traditional snacks include bread and butter. It is usually washed down with Chinese or strong green Burmese tea or coffee.
A typical lunch or dinner consists of a main dish, a side dish, a sweet or sour soup and a form of fish paste or shrimp paste. The main dish typically features pork, chicken, mutton, beef, fish, shrimp, duck, eggs, or catfish, that’s cooked, stewed, fried, steamed, roasted, broiled, boiled or simmered in various ways. Ngapi, which means pressed fish, is a speciality present at most meals. Another common dish is balachaung, a fried shrimp paste with crushed garlic, onions and chillies. Side dishes are usually a salad made with vegetables combined with meat, fish or shrimp. Soups are either sweet or sour and mostly vegetables with meat or fish. A popular finish to a meal is the betel chew. The dried areca nut is wrapped in the betel leaf with a lime paste. Sometimes tobacco, peppermint or other spices are added.
Traditional ethnic specialities include the Khauk-swe that is composed of wheat noodles in a broth made with chili-marinated chicken; it is typical of Shan cuisine. Other Shan dishes are htamin chin, a rice salad made with turmeric, and khauk sen, rice noodles with fish. The Mon food usually contains chillies and curry. The Rakhines cuisines enjoy spicy curries and seafood is popular. Talapo is a Karen dish made of rice and bamboo shoots, lemon grass and fish paste that is certainly worth a try.
Drinks: Tea is one of the most refreshing drinks in the tropics or fresh lemon/lime juice mixed with water. Chinese tea is generally preferable to the over-strong, over-sweet and over-milky Burmese tea. Sugar-cane juice is a popular street-side drink and stronger refreshments include orange brandy, lychee wine, white liquor or the local jungle liquor, fruit juice, water-buffalo milk and Mandalay beer.
Tipping is not customary, but is becoming more common in tourist areas, especially in the big cities.