Shan Noodles (ရှမ်းခေါက်ဆွဲ)

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Erin spent a significant chunk of the previous decade in Myanmar's Shan State - a beautiful mountainous region in Northeast Myanmar. Not only is the region beautiful, but the people are incredibly friendly, and the food is fresh and delicious. 

Shan noodles (Shan khao sway) is a well-known Shan dish that you will find throughout Myanmar. It's an ideal comfort food or an easy lunch/dinner. Erin has also been known to seek out a good bowl of Shan noodles for breakfast in Myanmar!

This recipe calls for ground chicken or pork, but you can also use chicken breast that you cut up into small pieces or make this vegetarian using tofu. 

The recipe that Erin uses is based on the Burma Superstar recipe, although she has modified it some to her liking!

This recipe will make 4 nice servings. Rice noodle dishes don’t quite re-heat “the same,” and so I recommend eating this fresh (but it is certainly still edible and better than most things re-heated, just not quite as good as it is fresh).

 

Ingredients:

- 1 lb. ground chicken or pork

- 1.5 Tbsp paprika (don’t used smoked if you can)

- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

- 1/3 tsp turmeric

- ½ tsp five-spice powder

- 1 tsp salt

- ¼ tsp dried chili flakes

- ¼ cup canola oil

- 2 cups minced yellow onion

- 3 roma tomatoes, diced like the onion (on-the-vine also likely fine)

- ¼ cup minced garlic

- ½ tbsp soy sauce

- 12 oz. rice noodles (dry)

- Green onions, sliced

- ¼ cup pickled mustard greens (OR I make bok choy)

For Bok Choy:

-          1.5 cup chopped bok choy (either baby or regular)

-          1 tsp soy sauce

-          Salt and pepper to season

Directions:

Mix the ground meat in a bowl with paprika, cayenne, turmeric, five-spice, salt, and chili flakes. Let this marinate while you prep the other ingredients (or at least 10 minutes). 

In a pot/pan (ideally a straight-sided sauté pan), heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and stir occasionally until they are turning translucent (~3-4 minutes). Then add the tomato and stir occasionally for another 3 minutes. Add the garlic, lower the heat to medium and cook another 3-4 minutes.

           

Put water on to boil for the noodles.

Add the ground meat and stir often until the meat is cooked through (~7-8 minutes). Cook the bok choy while this cooks.

-s.

Bok Choy: Heat about 1 tsp of oil over medium-high heat. Add the bok choy and stir. Add salt and pepper to season and cook until the bok choy starts to wilt (~3 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in soy sauce. Serve on top of Shan noodle

Remove the meat from the heat when it is cooked and add the soy sauce. I like to leave it on very low/warm while everything else preps to keep the juices flowing as this makes a tiny bit of a ‘sauce.’

Once the water is boiling, add the dried rice noodles. I use ‘pad thai’ noodles and they take about 3-4 minutes to cook.

Strain the noodles using a colander and then add to your meat sauce and stir to combine. If your pot isn’t big enough, you can combine in a larger pot or serving dish.

Serve into a bowl and top with bok choy (or mustard greens) and sliced green onions.