Burmese Cuisine - Nan Gyi Thoke (History & Recipe)

100 Asian Dishes

Burmese Cuisine - Nan Gyi Thoke (နန်းကြီးသုပ်‌)

Hey Serious Bite-rs :) How goes it?!

Fred and myself are super stoked ‘cos this time around …. we are covering BURMESE FOOD!! And, it’s going to be one of the most popular trademark salads of our country - and nope, it’s not laphet (tea leaves salad). It’s our people’s one of the most cherished salads of all time (especially the ladies’ favorite) …….NAN GYI THOKE/နန်းကြီးသုပ်‌(or) the Burmese version of spaghetti.

The goal of this post is not only for our Burmese readers but also to cater to our international crowd and potential Burmese food lovers.  We want to introduce this treasure to international readers so that they can even try it out themselves with the right ingredients or know where to get good nan gyi thoke whenever they are in Myanmar.

So, without further ado, let’s begin!

First and foremost, let’s kick off by talking a bit about its history and why it became popular in Myanmar. But before anything …

(if you are Burmese, skip “Burmese Food History 101” written below)

• Burmese Food History 101

So, international folks, there are two things you need to know about the Burmese cuisine besides that they’re super tasty.

1. We have ****load of salads, literally A LOT. Every food that you can eat, you can make a salad out of it in Myanmar. (which isn’t a bad thing at all unless you don’t like salads)
2. We use A LOT of oil in the salads and in curry. (Unhealthy I know, not too keen on this ourselves either but oil is like in our veins ya’ know)

Burmese cuisine is VERY sophisticated and is quite cultured. Also, there are many influences from neighboring countries like India, China and Thailand that helped us create fusion dishes all over the country. We will discuss about every major dish there is in later posts but now let’s just talk about Nan Gyi Thoke Noodles Salad.

• Nan Gyi Thoke’s History

Nan Gyi Thoke is a Burmese cuisine made with thick round rice noodles aka Nan gyi noodles mixed with specifically prepared chicken curry. The name “Nan Gyi” refers to the round thick rice noodles while "Thoke" means salad. The dish is usually served with pre-made chicken curry (note: the chicken curry is usually the Burmese style curry, not Indian) or either with boiled eggs cut in slices, onions, coriander, slice of lime, chilli powder and with crispy fritters.

It is quite difficult to dig into the dish’s history because either the history is simply lost or is untold. No one really knows about it except the fact that this salad originated from the middle part of Myanmar or Anyar region. The dish is often consumed in breakfasts but you can even have them in other meals of the day plus as a snack meal as well. Pretty cool right?

Nan Gyi Thoke salads are sold in almost all the local cafes in Myanmar, even street vendors especially in cities like Yangon, Naypyidaw, Mandalay and Bagan. Fun fact: Noodle sizes can vary depending on the region you’re in during your stay in Myanmar. (The noodles can be flat, thin, or sometimes thick and round.)When you order Nan Gyi Thoke from the cafes, they usually come with a bowl of chicken soup which compliments the flavor of the salad. And, the soup is free and you can even ask for a refill! Talk about Burmese people’s courtesy and polite manners. :D

Alright. So now that we know what Nan Gyi thoke is, let’s wrap up by talking about how to make this bad boy on your own at home. And, also which restaurants have the best Nan Gyi Thoke.

To make Nan Gyi Thoke, you will need -

Recipe

For the salad:

• Round Rice noodle or Udon Noodle ( Half pack For one or two person)
• Boiled Egg (1 large egg)
• Yellow Crispy Fritter Chips (For garnishing ONLY - Optional)
• Fish Sauce (2 tsp)
• Coriander (1 Stalk)
• Lime or Lemon (1/3 )
• Roasted Peanuts powder ( 2 tsp)
• Cabbage ( some slices)
• Sliced Onion (half) (For garnishing ONLY - Optional)
• Cabbage (For garnishing ONLY - Optional)

For Chicken Curry Sauce:

• Chicken Breast (one breasts)
• Oil (3 Tbsp)
• Fish Sauce (1  tsp)
• Turmeric powder (1/2 tsp)
• Salt (1 tsp)
• Red chili powder (for color) (1 or 2 tsp)
• Shallot (2)
• Garlic (5 to 6 gloves)
• Tomato (2)

Cooking Instructions

Cooking noodle

• Boil your noodles in the boiling water and add a little bit of salt.
• Drain the noodles and wash with cold water. Then code with a drizzle oil to prevent sticking each other.

Cooking the Chicken

• Dice chicken breasts into small cubes.
• Add cooking oil into heated pan and throw chopped shallot and garlic.
• When you get nice flavor, diced chicken goes in season with salt and fish salt.
• After that you can add turmeric and red chili powder. Then toss for a few times.
• Last but not least, chopped tomatoes (without seeds) in the pan and add a little bit of chicken stock cook it for 3 to 4 min.
• Now chicken curry sauce will be ready to serve with your noodles.

Serving Instructions

• You can serve this noodle dish just like the way you serve your spaghetti. Chicken curry sauce on top of the noodle.
• After the chicken sauce, add your boiled add slices, yellow crispy fritter chips, roasted peanuts powder and some coriander leaves.
• Finally, Drizzle lime and fish sauce. Enjoy!
  
  

If you’re stuck watch this:

Recipe Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDbkruWcgtg

Disclaimer: I do not own this video. All credit goes to user Nandar Win on YouTube.

Thank you all, in conclusion, Nan Gyi Thoke is the salad you cannot possibly miss out on when you visit our country. If you are a Burmese living abroad and is craving for this salad, I hope after reading this post, you are able to cook it by yourself. And for the international folks, you can get awesome Nan Gyi Thoke in Myanmar at:

Yangon

• Rangoon Tea House 

Website: https://www.facebook.com/RangoonTeaHouse/?fref=ts 
FB Messenger Contact: @RangoonTeaHouse
Address: Ground Floor, 77-79 Pansodan Street (Lower Middle Block), Between MahaBandoola and Merchant Road

Yangon

Phone: +95 9 979 078681

• Seit Taing Kya

Address: Ma Po Street, San Chaung Township, Yangon, Myanmar

Thanks everyone! Stay tuned for more (: See you on the flip side.