Customer Reviews

Under the Golden Pagoda: The Best of Burmese Cooking

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My Husband was born in Burma, (Now U.S citizen.)
He is also an ExceLLent COok. I was so happy to see these recipes to order this book. Its brought back warm memories of family and friends and of when some of these recipes would be prepared by his Mother. Now he's able to cook some favorites again that were lost thru time and travel...I love them too.
I love Burmese FOod!! Just fantastic ..I just had to order 2 books one to give to family they love the recipes also..Thank you so MuCH!!

The recipes in this book are authentic, easy to make and absolutely delicious! This is THE cookbook to use if you have an interest in Burmese food or just good food. It's also fun to read with delightful anecdotes about the food and Burmese culture.

If this is authentic Burmese cooking, I don't want to eat it. I'm an experienced cook and I specialize in Asian cuisine, to the point where I can imagine the taste of a dish just by reading the recipe. And what I see here is bland, Westernized hospital-type Asian food. It seems that in many recipes, the only "Asian" component is 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric. This is Asian, let alone Burmese? Turmeric is used mainly for color; it has very little taste.

But don't take my word for it; check out this recipe for Amaithar Kyaw (Fried Beef):

3 pounds boneless beef stew meat (about 2-inch pieces)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 cups vegetable oil

That's it. Do you have any idea what that would taste like? Yellow beef with salt on it.

Garlic only shows up occasionally. There are no chilies. Why do I have the feeling that there is no paprika in Burma? All the spices are ground. What, you mean the Burmese peasants go to the local supermarket and buy a few jars of McCormick to doll up their catfish? Where is the lemongrass? The galangal, the chilies?

One "recipe" consists of just two ingredients: Onions and Sriracha sauce. That's a recipe?

Do yourself a favor, ditch this book and get yourself a copy of The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmaine Solomon instead.