Taste and preparation
❃ Taste and preparation
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မစပ်နဲ့နော်
[ Ma sat ne naw ] -
Not spicy, please.
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နည်းနည်းစပ်စပ်လေး
[ Ne ne sat sat lay ] -
A little bit spicy.
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အရမ်းစပ်တယ်
[ A yan sat de ] -
It is very spicy.
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အချိုမှုန့်မထည့်နဲ့
[ A cho mon ma hte ne ] -
No MSG (Ajinomoto).
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ဆီလျှော့ပါ
[ Si shaw ba ] -
Less oil.
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ကျက်ကျက်ကြော်ပေးပါ
[ Kyet kyet kyaw pay ba ] -
Please fry it well done.
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နံနံပင်မထည့်နဲ့
[ Nan nan bin ma hte ne ] -
No coriander.
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ငါးငံပြာရည်ပေးပါ
[ Nga ngan pya yey pay ba ] -
Give me fish sauce.
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ပဲငံပြာရည်ပေးပါ
[ Pe ngan pya yey pay ba ] -
Give me soy sauce.
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ငရုတ်သီးမှုန့်
[ Nga yoke thi mon ] -
Chili powder.
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ငရုတ်သီးစိမ်း
[ Nga yoke thi zein ] -
Fresh green chili.
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သံပရာသီး
[ Than ba ya thi ] -
Lime.
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ငန်တယ်
[ Ngan de ] -
It's salty.
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ချိုတယ်
[ Cho de ] -
It's sweet.
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ချဉ်တယ်
[ Chin de ] -
It's sour.
Customizing your meal in Myanmar is highly recommended and socially expected, as traditional Burmese cuisine possesses some bold characteristics that might surprise a foreign palate. One of the defining features of authentic Burmese curries is that they are often cooked with a substantial layer of clear oil floating on top. Historically and practically, this oil layer acts as a natural seal that preserves the food in the intense tropical heat without refrigeration, while also locking in the robust flavors of the spices. However, if you prefer a lighter, healthier meal, you can easily ask the cook to reduce the oil by politely saying ဆီလျှော့ပါ (si shaw ba) [sʰì ʃɔ̰ pà]. Additionally, the use of monosodium glutamate (MSG)—which is universally referred to by the Japanese brand name "Ajinomoto" across Myanmar—is extremely widespread in street food stalls and teahouses to quickly enhance the savory umami flavor of broths and stir-fries. If you are sensitive to MSG or simply prefer your food cooked naturally without it, you must proactively request အချိုမှုန့်မထည့်နဲ့ (a cho mon ma hte ne) [ʔə tɕʰò mo̰ʊɴ mə tʰɛ̰ nɛ̰]. Spice levels in Myanmar can also be quite intense, particularly when trying regional dishes like the notoriously fiery Rakhine or Kachin cuisines. To ensure your mouth isn't unexpectedly set on fire, you can ask for the dish to be mild by saying မစပ်နဲ့နော် (ma sat ne naw) [mə saʔ nɛ̰ nɔ̀], meaning "not spicy, please". Even if you ask for it mild, you will not miss out on flavor. On every dining table in Myanmar, you will find a small arsenal of local condiments allowing you to adjust the dish yourself. This usually includes dried crushed chili flakes, wedges of fresh lime or tamarind, and a small bottle or bowl of pungent fish sauce, known as ငံပြာရည် (ngan pya yey) [ŋàɴ pjà jè], which provides that deeply salty, fermented depth typical of authentic Southeast Asian food. Communicating your cooking preferences using these phrases ensures a tailored, delicious dining experience.
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