| Crispies Galore
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| If someone were to ask me
to speak on our national institutions (no one has, so far), I would begin with
bu-thee-gyaw(gourd fritters), which no Myanmar can do without.
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| These sunny days, you
walk along any road; you will see on the wayside a little thatched hut where a
woman sits by the blazing fireplace on which is placed a large dai-oh (frying
pan) half filled with sizzling oil.
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| The dai-oh can hardly be
called a frying pan, though used for frying all right; it is no flat pan but a
huge iron pot concave in shape. A dugout fireplace makes a good seat for its
curved base.
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The dai-oh can take a lot
of oil and the woman while waiting for the oil to heat up prepares the ground
fritters. Young tendergourd is used; pieces are cut into fingers and soaked in
batter made of rice flour. As wisps of smoke rise from the surface ofthe heated
oil the gourd fingers are put into it. They are fried till they become golden
brown.
(Note: It is always a woman who runs the show; even if you see a man around
remember he is only second in command. Myanmarwomen are always in charge of
important things like crispie shops and they leave the less important things to
men!)
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| Around the hut are a few
low tables each laid with a pot of plain tea, tea cups, plate of lettuce and
corriander leaves and small dish of sauce. This sauce is a real appeiser; it is
a concoction of hot chilli pulp, a dash of garlic and tamarind juice.
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| You sit on one of the low
wooden stools around the table and gulp down a cup of hot plain tea and bawl
for a plate of gourd fritters.If you are early you wait drinking plain tea,
which is free of charge, and watch the gourd fritters swim in smoking oil as
the fire underneathcrackles and blazes.
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| Perhaps some unbidden and
unwelcome thought might come to you, a reminder of the cautionary tales you had
heard in childhood, those tales of hell and fire. You try to switch off those
thoughts by nibbling green lettuce with chilli sauce.
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| At last the bu-thee-gyaw
fritters would come right out of the sizzling oil. It is a favourite Myanmar
snack. It is taken with lettuce, corrianderleaves and chilli sauce and with hot
plain tea as chaser. In the same shop you cah also get other verieties,
crispies made of shredded onions, bananas, potato chips to name only a few. All
these are made with rice flour batter and fried in oil.
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| Glutinous rice flour,
jaggery, peanuts and sesamum seeds also feature in some of the varieties. The
most well known is mon-see-gyaw , flat pancake.The basic mixture is glutinous
rice flour sweetened with jaggery; the batter is ladled out into hot oily
griddle; as the batter begins to thicken andcrinkle at the edges, sesamum
seeds, peanuts and coconut shreds are sprinkled on the surface. When it is
golden brown it is put on a bambooseive to drain.
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| The other kind of crispie
not as elaborate as mon-see-gyaw is mon-let-kauk or bracelet crispie; it is
shaped like a bracelet, something like a doughnut. It is a doughnut anyway only
it is made of glutinous rice flour. The dough is kneaded and rolled and made
into bracelets and deep fried. It is unsweetened and it is taken with jaggery
syrup.
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| One can hardly speak of
Myanmar crispies without mentioning the ba-yar-gyaw , one of the commonest
kind. Dried peas are soaked in water overnight and pounded into paste and deep
fried: it is seasoned with onions, garlic and chillies. There are several
varieties of peas too and each tastes different, but all of them good.
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| Crispie shops are a
plenty on festival grounds which is often filled with the aroma of deep frying.
Why get yourself a splitting headache by just taking in the smells, better
enjoy your favourite crispie and give yourself a good time with the inevitable
headache and a stomach ache as a bonus. One thing about crispies is that it is
no fun taking them home to eat: they are best eaten right at the shop with all
the paraphernalia and aromas. They are worth all the things you suffer the
morning after.
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