Breakfast in... Burma

In Burma, the traditional breakfast in town and country alike is 'htamin jaw', fried rice with boiled peas (pè byouk), and yei nway jan (green tea) especially among the poor.

Glutinous rice or 'kao hnyin' is a popular alternative, steamed wrapped in banana leaf often with peas as kao hnyin baung served with a sprinkle of crushed and salted toasted sesame. Equally popular is the purple variety known as 'nga cheik' cooked the same way and called 'nga cheik paung'. 'Si damin' is sticky rice cooked with tumeric and onions in peanut oil and served with crushed and salted toasted sesame and crispfried onions. Assorted fritters such as baya jaw 'urad dal' go with all of them.

'Nan bya' or 'naan' (Indian-style flatbreads) again with pè byouk or simply buttered is served with Indian tea or coffee. It also goes very well with hseiksoup (mutton soup).

Fried chapati, blistered like 'nan bya' but crispy, with 'pè byouk' and crispy fried onions is a popular alternative.

'Htat ta ya' which literally means "a hundred layers", is flaky multilayered fried 'paratha' served with either 'pè byouk' or a sprinkle of sugar.

'Eeja gway' (Chinese-style fried breadsticks or 'youtiao') with Indian tea or coffee is another favourite.

'Mohinga', perhaps the most popular of all, now available as an "all-day breakfast" in many towns and cities, is rice vermicelli in fish broth kept on the boil with chickpea flour and/or crushed toasted rice, lemon grass , sliced banana stem, onions, garlic, ginger, pepper and fish paste and served with crispy fried onions, crushed dried chilli, coriander, fish sauce and lime. Add fritters such as split chickpea (pè jan jaw), urad dal (baya jaw) or 'gourd'(bu jaw), boiled egg and fried fish cake (nga hpè jaw).

Another dish, growing in popularity because of its healthier composite and economic friendliness, is the Rakhine Mont-de, a variant of Mohinga, but lighter. It consists of thin rice noodles eaten with clear soup, made from boiled ngapi and lemon grass. Toasted fish flakes, from snakefish and green and red chili paste are also added, with seasoning. RakhineMont-de is also called ar-pu-shar-pu (literally "hot throat", "hot tongue") because of its heavy use of spicy ingredients. A salad version also exists. It is now available in many cities and towns across Burma.