🇲🇲 Myanmar · southern Myanmar
MohingaBurmese fish noodle soup
The Burmese fish noodle soup: thin rice noodles in a broth of catfish or other fish with lemongrass, banana stem, ginger and garlic, thickened with toasted rice or chickpea flour, with fritters, boiled egg, coriander and lime.
Origin and history
Mohinga is widely regarded as Myanmar's national dish, though the sources give no official designation. One source roots it in southern Myanmar, where fresh fish is plentiful. It is typically eaten at breakfast, once sold by street hawkers carrying a broth pot and a noodle pot on a pole, and today also at markets, restaurants and monasteries. Every region and shop has its own version.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 15 min
- Hands-on
- 40 min
Ingredients
- 700 g1.5 lb catfish or snakehead, steaks or fillets
- 2.5 litres10 cups water
- 3 stalks lemongrass, 2 bruised for the broth, 1 sliced fine
- 2 onions, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cm1 in fresh ginger, chopped
- 100 ml1/2 cup neutral oil
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika or mild chili powder
- 200 g7 oz banana stem, optional, thinly sliced, soaked and squeezed
- 60 g1/2 cup toasted rice flour, or chickpea flour, toasted dry in a pan until nutty
- 6 tbsp fish sauce, to taste
- 500 g1.1 lb fresh thin round rice noodles, or 350 g / 12 oz dried rice vermicelli
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, halved
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 2 limes, in wedges
- chili flakes or chili oil, to taste
- fritters (gourd or chickpea fritters, akyaw) and crushed crackers, to serve
Method
-
1. Bring the water to a boil with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and the 2 bruised lemongrass stalks. Add the fish and cook 10 minutes until just done.
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2. Lift out the fish, remove skin and bones, and flake it finely with forks. Keep the broth simmering.
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3. Heat the oil in a wide pan and fry the onion, garlic, ginger and sliced lemongrass for 4 minutes until soft.
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4. Add the turmeric, paprika and a pinch of salt and fry 5 minutes. Add the flaked fish, and the banana stem if using, and cook 10 minutes, stirring often.
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5. Scrape the mixture into the broth. Bring to a boil.
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6. Stir the toasted flour with a ladle or two of cold water to a thin slurry, then stir it into the pot with the remaining fish sauce.
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7. Simmer 15 minutes, until the broth is lightly thickened and the oil shines on the surface.
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8. Cook the noodles per the packet and divide among bowls. Ladle over the very hot broth.
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9. Top with egg, cilantro and fritters, and serve with lime and chili.
Notes
- The broth is thickened with toasted rice flour or chickpea flour, which gives it body without cream; the amount here (about 8 tablespoons for 2.5 litres) follows published home recipes, which range from 60 to 85 g. Catfish or snakehead are traditional; tilapia is a common substitute.
- Regional forms: Yangon's is regarded as the benchmark, Mandalay's has a thicker, dal-like broth, coastal areas use more fish, Rakhine's is very spicy, Dawei adds a local leaf (lankaung) and Myaungmya adds fish roe.
- A common way to eat it is for breakfast, very hot, with fritters, egg, lime and chili; other garnishes include fried peas, crispy garlic, shredded leek and banana plant.
- Make ahead: the broth keeps 3 days refrigerated; reheat to boiling and thin with water if it thickens.
Adapted from Myanmar.com, Mohinga, 196 Flavors, Mohinga, Insight Myanmar, A Tale of Mohinga, and SBS Food, Mohinga (Luke Nguyen).
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.