/ beyond/THE DISH
I COULDN’T TELL IF DESMOND TAN WAS CRYING from jet-
lag-induced delirium, sweating from the spicy food or
both. We were diving in to sea bass with mustard greens
and vibrant herbs that I couldn’t name, all steamed in a
banana leaf. It was complex yet comforting, hitting every
note from sweet to sour to bitter.
Tan, a San Francisco area–based Burmese
restaurateur, and I were at Shan Yoe Yar ( fb.com/
shanyoeyar; mains K2,700–K15,000) in downtown
Rangoon, a stop on our tour of Burmese cuisine. The
restaurant specializes in the food of the Shan ethnic
group in the country’s northeast. Combining seasonal
vegetables, foraged herbs and hearty meats, the dishes
defy modern borders and reflect Laotian, Thai and
Chinese influences. Opened in late 2013, the restaurant in
an 80-year-old teak mansion is adorned with folksy
traditional instruments. Before we could cool our palates,
more plates landed: pleasantly bitter leeks pounded with
dried soybeans and coriander, pork rinds drizzled with a
tamarind sauce, eggplant pulp smoked to a sultry
perfection, and tofu home made with chickpeas.
“A couple of years ago, you wouldn’t have seen a
restaurant that has good food and great ambience,” Tan
said, wiping away at his face. I had to agree—on my last
trip six years ago, fine dining consisted of curries
drowning in oil served under fluorescent lighting.
For nearly half a century, Burma languished in
isolation as its military junta fended off the progress that
swept across much of the rest of Asia. But since the
democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from
house arrest in 2010, Rangoon has had its first free
election, seen an increase in overseas investment, and
introduced affordable SIM cards for better phone and
Internet service. Suddenly the city is in dialogue with the
world, and with this has come a reimagined dining scene.38 AUGUST 2017 / TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM
Tan, the owner of San Francisco’s Burma
Superstar, has been watching this
transformation closely. He returned to his
birthplace regularly to research his cookbook.
He brought a copy of it with him to dinner, and
his friends passed it around the table,
incredulous to find familiar Burmese dishes in
a glossy book—published in America, no less.
The unspoken question: Is Burmese cuisine
ready for the international spotlight?
In short, yes.
Burmese food draws culinary traditions
from its geographic proximity to India, China
and Thailand; British rule in the 19th and 20th
centuries brought additional influences. I
ventured out the next day to find this diversity
in action. Getting lost in downtown Rangoon’s
checkerboard of monsoon-beaten Edwardian
town houses and fin-de-siècle edifices, I
discovered old-school businesses like a dairy
shop next to the Shri Kali Hindu temple. The
boyish proprietor, Dhana Shekaran, scoops
mustard oil and ghee out of big jars, just like
his South Indian immigrant grandfather did.
These days, the shop’s star product is its
yogurt, made fresh with buffalo milk and
served in clay jars. Cool and custardy, it also
has a tangy kick, not unlike a summery salad
of mozzarella dressed with vinegar—just the
thing I needed after a stroll through Rangoon’s
oppressive humidity.
Amid the cacophony of the produce market
on 17th Street, I encountered a spring-roll-
paper maker, whose hand dipped into a watery
rice batter and flashed across a dozen hot FROM LEFT: STEVE VIDLER/PROFILE PHOTO LIBRARY; COURTESY OF SHAN YOE YAR RESTAURANT; NATHALIE CUVELIER/GETTY IMAGES