Kachin cuisine

Kachin cuisine is food originating from the Kachinland area, which includes the northern areas of Myanmar, as well as parts of China and Arunachal Pradesh, associated with Kachin. Outside of Kachinland, Kachin restaurants have opened in Yangon, and Kachin migrants have brought the cuisine to other countries. ^[1]

Dishes

• Shat Jam, a rice dish made from boiled rice, beans, carrots, mushrooms, and fried onions. Can also include meat such as chicken, pork or beef. ^[2] Also known as Kachin Danbauk (ကချင်‌ဒံပေါက်) in Burmese-speaking areas.
• Shan Hkak, minced beef mixed with basil, garlic, ginger, chilies and pepper. ^[3]
• Japhtu, a spicy side dish made of pounded chilies and garlic. There are many variations such as adding dried beef, fish, banana bud, or tomatoes.
• Si Pa, a vegetable curry made with rice powder. Typical vegetables included are pumpkin, pumpkin leaf, mustard, mushroom, okra, long beans, and cauliflower.
• Silu, a curry made with rice powder and chicken, chilli, basil, garlic, and machyang si.
• Bamboo shoots, either salted or preserved is a common side dish. ^[4]
• U Pha, a flavorful chicken porridge which includes rice, chicken, water, ginger, garlic, salt, chicken seasoning powder, fried onion and cilantro as the topping, pickle mustard as the side dish. This dish is a typical porridge bowl that kachin people would eat in some gathering that is related to church, as it is easy to make for a group of people in short amount of time. On top of that, people eat this dish especially when they are sick as they believe that U Pha gives them the energy to recover from illness.

References

1. The Burmese Kachin
2. Yangon’s best Kachin food demands overindulgence
3. "Importantance of Sisig's cultural significance". 2019-05-27. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
4. "Than Than Aye Starts Salted Bamboo Shoots Business". Asian Farmers. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2022-04-25.