September 10, 2021

Mohinga: Soup from Burma

History & origin:

Mohinga is a Burmese soup generally taken in breakfast it contains all the characteristics of Burmese cuisine i.e sweet, sour, salty & spicy. There is no particular consensus of the origin of the Mohinga, one points it back to the primary century AD, another attributes it to the 13th-century king. It is a Fish based soup prepared with noodles, chickpea and/or rice flour, garlic, onion, lemongrass, ginger, and of course fish cooked in the broth.

Some special species of fish are used to make this Burmese soup: ngaiji (small freshwater catfish), ngakhu (another small freshwater catfish), ngapali (snakehead fish ), or tilapia .

Ingredients :

prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 45 mins Servings: 4 people.

For the Broth :

2 white onions chopped	1 lb catfish fillet or (any other fish mentioned above)
2 tsp garlic minced	1 tsp ginger minced
3 tsp turmeric	4 tsp vegetable oil
2 tsp paprika	3 stalks lemongrass( slice the base of the lemongrass & cut the remaining stalk into 2 inch pcs)
8 tsp rice flour	8 tsp fish sauce
4 dry bay leaves	10 cups of water

For the Serving :

1 bowl rice noodles (boiled)	1 cup cilantro finely chopped
4 hard-boiled eggs halved	2 limes cut into 4 pcs
1 tsp red pepper crushed	1 medium-sized red onion sliced

Preparation:

Start making broth by boiling water in a pan with fish sauce .
Add lemon grass sections ,fish fillets simmer the flame until the fish is cooked.
Take a frying pan ,add some oil ,heat the oil in high flame then add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger and thinly sliced lemongrass. Saute it for 5 mins.
Now reduce the flame to medium, add turmeric, paprika, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and a pinch of salt. Keep stirring.
Now remove fish from the broth and finely cut the fish into small pcs.
Add these fish pcs into the mixture prepared in step 4.
Now fry the fish with mixture on high or medium flame for abt 5 mins,stirr carefully.
Add the broth prepared in step 2 to the fish mixture of step 7.
Bring it to boil again.
Add the other 4 tablespoons of fish sauce,rice flour and stir. Bring to a boil and let the broth simmer for about 15 minutes or until the broth has thickened.
for serving in each individual bowl add the boiled noodles and cover with broth. Put half a boiled egg on top, and sprinkle cilantro and crushed pepper. Serve with some lime and sliced red oinion.
Mohinga is ready to enjoy.