The cuisine of Burma (or Myanmar) has been influenced by the respective cuisines of China, India and Thailand. However, in spite of this, Burmese cuisine has unique preparation techniques and distinct flavours unlike any other. Different regions of Burma have different variations of "standard" dishes. Use of seafood is more prevalent along coastal cities such as Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, Mawlamyaing (formerly Moulmein), Mergui and Dawei, while meat and poultry are more commonly used in landlocked cities like Mandalay. Fish and shrimp from rivers, lakes and streams, however, have traditionally been the main source of protein in a variety of ways, fresh, salted whole or filleted,salted and dried, made into a salty paste, or fermented sour and pressed. Beef and pork, although certainly not forbidden, are avoided by many Buddhists and Muslims respectively. Vegetarian dishes are also common, as especially during the Buddhist lent (Wa-dwin), a three-month rains retreat, eating only before midday (u bouk saunk) and abstaining from meat (thet that lut) is observed by many devout Buddhists.

White rice or Basmati rice is regarded as main food dish usually served with curry. Paw San Mhwe is the most popular rice used in Burma and top-rated as the Basmati rice in Thailand Burmese cuisine also contains a variety of salads (a thouk) centered on one major ingredient, ranging from rice, noodles, and glass vermicelli, to potato, ginger, tomato, kaffir lime, lahpet (pickled tea), and ngapi (fish paste). These salads have become a popular fast-food in Burmese cities.

Here is a popular expression that sums up the traditional favourites:

:" Of all fruit the best is the mango, of all meat it's pork, and of all leaves it's lahpet (tea}."

Notable dishes

Because a standardized system of romanisation for spoken Burmese does not exist, pronunciations of the following dishes in modern standard Burmese approximated using IPA are provided.

• Ba zun thouk (ပုဇွန်သုတ်‌ [bəzun θouʔ]), pickled prawn salad
• Gyin thouk (ဂျင်းသုတ်‌ [dʒin θouʔ]), ginger salad with sesame seeds
• Hkauk swè thouk (​ေခါက်ဆွဲသုတ်‌ [kʰauʔswɛ θouʔ]), wheat noodle salad with dried shrimps, shredded cabbage and carrots, dressed with fried peanut oil, fish sauce and lime
• Htamin thouk (ထမင်းသုတ်‌ [tʰamin θouʔ]), rice salad with tomato puree, potato,glass noodle, toasted chickpea flour, crushed toasted dried fermented beancake,crushed dried shrimp, crushed dried chilli, garlic and dressed with cooked peanut oil, fish sauce, lime or tamarind and coriander
• Htoe mont (ထုိးမုန့်‌့ [tʰoumoun̰]), glutinous rice cake with raisins, cashews and coconut shavings
• Kat kyi hnyat (ကပ်​ေကျးညှပ်‌ [kaʔdʒiɲ̥ɛʔ], lit. 'cut with scissors'), a southern coastal dish (from the Dawei area) of rice noodles with a variety of seafood, land meats, raw bean sprouts, beans and fried eggs comparable to pad thai
• Kya yoe hinga (ကြာ ရိုးဟင်းခါး [tʃajou hinga]), lotus roots in clear chicken or fish broth
• Kya zan hin, glass noodle ကြာဆံဟင်း soup with chicken, wood-ear mushrooms, dried flowers, onions, boiled egg, garnished with coriander, thin-sliced onions, crushed dried chilli and a dash of lime (Mandalay)
• Kya zan hinga (ကြာဆဲဟင်းခါး [dʒazan hinga]), glass noodle soup with dried shrimp, wood-ear mushrooms, egg, dried flowers, onions (Yangon)
• Kyauk kyaw (​ေကျာက်​ေကြာ [tʃaoʔtʃau]), agar jelly usually set in two layers with coconut milk
• Kyay-oh (​ေကြးအုိး [tʃeiou]), vermicelli noodles in soup with pork offal and greens
• Let thouk sone ([leʔ θousoun]), similar to htamin thouk with shredded green papaya, shredded carrot, ogonori sea moss and often wheat noodles
• Mohinga (မုန့်ဟင်းခါး [mounhinga]), the unofficial national dish of rice vermicelli in fish broth with onions, garlic, ginger, lemon grass and sliced tender core of banana-stem, served with boiled eggs, fried fish cake (nga hpe) and fritters (akyaw)

• Mont let saung (မုန့်လက်​ေဆာင်း [moun̰leʔsʰaun]), tapioca balls, glutinous rice, grated coconut and toasted sesame with jaggery syrup in coconut milk
• Nan gyi thouk (နန်းကြီးသုတ်‌ [nandʒi θouʔ]) or Mont di, thick rice noodle salad with chickpea flour, chicken, fish cake (nga hpe), onions, coriander, spring onions, crushed dried chilli, dressed with fried crispy onion oil, fish sauce and lime
• Nan bya gyi thouk (နန်းကြီးသုန်‌), as above with tagliatelle
• Ngapi gyet (ငပိချက် [ŋapi dʒɛʔ]), fermented spicy fish paste or salted fish curried with onions, tomatoes, garlic, chilli and coriander served with to za ya, vegetables fresh or boiled, on the side
• Ngapi gyaw (ငပိ​ေကြာ်‌ [ŋapi tʃau]), fried version with dried shrimp, onions, garlic and dried chilli
• Ohn no hkauk swè (အုန်းနို့​ေခါက်ဆွဲဲ [ounnouʔ kʰauʔswɛ]), curried chicken and wheat noodles in a coconut milk broth similar to Malaysian laksa and Chiang Mai's khao soi
• Sanwin makin (ဆနွင်းမကင်း‌ [sanwin makin]), semolina cake with raisins, walnuts and poppy seeds
• Shwe gyi mont ( [ʃwei dʒi moun̰]), hardened semolina (wheat) porridge with poppy seeds
• Shwe yin aye (​ေရွှရင်​ေအး [ʃwei jin ei]), agar jelly, tapioca and sago in coconut milk
• Shauk thee thouk, sliced lemon or kaffir lime (no pith or rind), toasted chickpea flour, crushed roasted peanut, crushed dried shrimp, crushed dried chilli, baked fish paste, cooked oil with onions (goes very well and often served with kya zan hinga)

Chinese-inspired

• Asein gyaw, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, green beans, baby corn, cornflour or tapioca starch, tomatoes, squid sauce
• Bè gin (ဘဲကင်း‌ [be kin]), roast duck
• Dim sum, meat/fish/prawn/crab/sausage/egg/sea weeds, flour, flavor enhancer
• Hpet htouk (lit. leaf wrap), meat, pastry paper, ginger, garlic, pepper powder, salt, essentially the same as potstickers
• Htamin gyaw (ထမင်း​ေကျာ်‌ [tʰa min tʃau]), fried rice with boiled peas (pè byouk),the poor man's favourite breakfast
• Kaw yei hkauk swè (ကော္‌​ေရခောက္‌ဆ္ဝဲ [kɔ̀ jèi kʰauʔ swɛ̀]), noodles and curried pork in chicken broth with eggs
• La mont (လမုန့်‌့ [la̰ moun̰]), lit. mooncake, an oily disk-shaped cake filled with either sugar or sweet bean paste
• Meeshay, rice noodles with pork and/or chicken, bean sprouts, rice flour gel, rice flour fritters, dressed with soy sauce, salted soybean, rice vinegar, fried peanut oil, chilli oil, and garnished with crispfried onions, crushed garlic, coriander, and pickled daikon/mustard greens
• Mi swan (မီဆွမ်း‌ [mi swa]), extra thin noodles in light broth with chicken or duck
• Panthay hkauk swè (ပန်း​ေသး​ေခါက်ဆွဲ [panθei kʰauʔ swɛ]), halal noodles with chicken and spices, often served by Chinese Muslims
• Pao-see (​ေပါက်စီ [pauʔ sʰi]), steamed buns filled with either pork and egg or sweet bean paste
• San byouk (ဆံပြုတ်‌ [sʰan pjouʔ]), a type of rice congee with fish, chicken or duck often fed to invalids, with mi swan a favourite alternative
• Si gyet hkauk swè (ဆီကြက်​ေခါက်ဆွဲဲ [sʰi tʃʰɛʔ kʰauʔ swɛ]), wheat noodles with duck or pork, fried garlic oil, soy sauce and chopped spring onions
• Wettha douk htoe, pork offal, light soy sauce, ginger, chilli sauce, garlic

Indian-inspired

• Dan bauk (ဒန်​ေပါက်‌ [dan pauʔ]), Burmese-style biryani with either chicken or mutton served with mango pickle, fresh mint and green chili
• Fried chappati, crispy and blistered, with boiled peas (pè byouk), a popular breakfast next to nan bya
• Halawa, a snack made of sticky rice, butter, coconut milk, from Indian dessert halwa
• Hkauk swè, plain noodles, chili powder, creamed coconut, onions, chicken, salt and green chili.
• Hpaluda, similar to the Indian dessert falooda, rose water, milk, jello, coconut jelly, coconut shavings, sometimes served with custard and ice cream
• Htat ta ya ([tʰaʔ tə ja]), lit. "a hundred layers", fried flaky multilayered paratha with either a sprinkle of sugar or pè byouk
• Htawbat htamin, rice made with butter and mostly eaten with chicken curry.
• Malaing loun (မလုိင်လုံး [mə lain loun]), Burmese-style gulab jamun
• Nan bya ([nan bja]),နံပြား Burmese style naan buttered or with pè byouk, also with mutton soup
• Palata ([pə la θa]), Burmese style paratha with egg or mutton
• Samusa (ဆမူဆာ [sʰa mu sʰa̰]), Burmese-style samosa with mutton and onions served with fresh mint, green chilli,onions and lime
• Samusa thouk (ဆမူဆာသုတ်‌ [sʰa mu sʰa̰ θouʔ]), samosa salad with onions, cabbage, fresh mint, potato curry, masala, chili powder, salt and lime
• Theezon chin yei, lit. vegetable all- sorts sour broth, with drumstick, lady's finger, egg plant, green beans, potato, onions, ginger, dried chilli, boiled egg, dried salted fish, fish paste and tamarind

Shan-inspired

• Htamin gyin (ထမင်းချင်း‌ [tʰa min tʃʰin]), a rice, tomato and potato or fish salad kneaded into round balls dressed and garnished with crisp fried onion in oil, tamarind sauce, coriander and spring onions often with garlic, Chinese chives roots (ju myit), fried whole dried chili, grilled dried fermented beancakes (pè bouk} and fried dried topu (topu gyauk kyaw) on the side
• Lahpet thouk (လက်ဖက်သုတ်) [le peʔ θouʔ]), a salad of pickled tea leaves with fried peas, peanuts and garlic, toasted sesame, fresh garlic, tomato, green chili, crushed dried shrimps, preserved ginger and dressed with peanut oil, fish sauce and lime
• Papaya salad
• Shan tohpu (ရှမ်းတိုဖူး [ʃan tou pu]), a type of tofu made from chickpea flour or yellow split pea eaten as fritters (tohpu gyaw) or in a salad (tohpu thouk), also eaten hot before it sets as tohpu byawk aka tohpu nway and as fried dried topu (tohpu gyauk kyaw)
• Shan hkauk swè, rice noodles with chicken or minced pork, onions, garlic, tomatoes, chili, crushed roasted peanuts, young vine of mangetout, served with topu gyaw or topu nway and pickled mustard greens (monnyingyin)
• Wet thachin, preserved minced pork in rice
• Wet tha hmyit chin (‌ [wɛʔ θa m̥jiʔ tʃʰin]), pork with sour bamboo shoots

Mon-inspired

• Thingyan Rice - is a dish of rice (fully boiled) in candle-smelt water served with mango salad fry.
• Thamanae – is served as a dessert made from glutinous rice, coconut scratch and peanut are included.
• Banana pudding – is a dessert made from banana boiled in coconut milk with sugar.
• Wet mohinga – is the same as mohinga but vermicelli is served while in wet condition.
• Durian jam – is popular as Katut jam in the base of Kyaiktiyo Pagoda.
• Ngabaung doke – is a mixed vegetable and prawn, wrapped in morinda leaf and then banana leaf outside.
• Semolina cake (Sanwin makin)– is a dessert cake make from semolina and sugar, butter, coconut.
• Pennywort leaf salad -

Starches

The most common starch (staple food) in Burma is white rice. Glutinous rice called kauk hnyin is also very popular including the purple variety known as nga cheik especially as a breakfast dish. Various types of noodles are commonly used in salads and soups or fried. Vermicelli noodles and rice noodles are often used in soups, while thick rice and wheat noodles are used in salads. Palata, a flaky fried flatbread is often eaten with curried meats while nan-bya, a baked flatbread is eaten with any Indian dishes. Another favourite is aloo poori - puffed-up fried breads eaten with potato curry.

Ingredients

Ingredients used in Burmese dishes are often fresh. Many fruits are used in conjunction with vegetables in many dishes. Some common ingredients are:

• Asiatic pennywort (myin hkwa ywet)
• asparagus (ka nyut)
• bamboo shoot (hmyit [m̥jiʔ])
• banana stem (nga pyaw u [ŋə pjauʔ u])
• bean sprouts (pè bin bauk)
• beef (a mè tha)
• bitter gourd (kyet hin ga thee)
• black-eyed pea (pè loon)
• bombay duck (a byè gyauk)
• butter bean (htaw bat pè)
• cabbage (gor bi douk)
• carrot (hka gyet u)
• catfish (nga hku [ŋə ku])
• cauliflower (paan gor bi)
• cha-om, Acacia pennata leaves (soo bouk ywet)
• chayote (gorakha thee)
• chicken (kyet tha)
• chick pea (kala bè [ka la pɛ])
• chickpea flour (pè hmont[pɛ m̥ounʔ])
• chilli (nga youk thee [ŋə jouʔ θi]), dried as well as green
• Chinese cabbage (monnyin byu)
• Chinese chives (ju hpu), roots (ju myit)
• coconut (oun thee [ouN θi])
• coriander leaves (nan nan bin [naN naN piN])
• cucumber (tha hkwa thee)
• drumstick, Moringa oleifera (dunt dalun thee)
• duck (bè tha)
• egg (kyet u), duck egg (bè u), quail egg (ngoun u)
• eggplant (hka yan thee [kʰa jaN θi])
• fermented bean paste (poun yeigyi)
• fermented bean sprouts (pè di gyin)
• fermented sesame cake (hnan bat chin)
• fish (nga)
• fish sauce (ngan bya yei [ŋaN bja jei])
• fish paste ( nga pi sayn za)
• garlic (kyet thun phyu [tʃʰeʔ tuN pʰju])
• ginger (gyin [dʒiN])
• glutinous rice (kao hnyin), purple variety (nga cheik)
• goat mutton (hseik tha)
• gourd (bu thee) and the young vine (bu nyunt)
• green bean (pè thee)
• haricot bean (pè gyi [pɛ dʒi]
• hilsa {nga tha lauk)
• kaffir lime (shauk thee), leaves (shauk ywet)
• kohlrabi (no ko u)
• lemongrass (za ba lin [zə ba liN])
• lentils (pè ni lay or pè yaza)
• lettuce (sa lat ywet)
• lime (than baya thee [θan ba ja θi])
• mahseer (nga gyinn)
• masala
• mango (tha yet thee [θa jeʔ θi]), green as well as ripe
• mint (pusi nan)
• mooli or daikon (mon la u), pickled (mon la gyin)
• mushrooms (hmo