Burmese Ohno Kaukswe

Many people don’t know that my parents were born and raised in Burma (also known as Myanmar).  So while I ate a lot of Chinese food growing up, my mom also made several awesome Burmese dishes.  My all-time favourite is called Ohno Kaukswe (Ohno = coconut; Kaukswe = soup).  And just this week, Betty and I made it for the first time!  You can read the recipe here.

For the most part, there are two major components that should be prepared separately: the soup and the chicken.  You have it with egg noodles and hard boiled eggs as well, but these two are a bit more involved.

Chicken

1. Debone one whole chicken. Cut up meat and use bones for soup (see below).
2. Marinade overnight chicken with salt and juice from one lemon.
3. Put 1 onion (roughly chopped), 2 inches of ginger, one or two whole chillies and several garlic cloves into blender. Grind down to a pulp.
4. Heat up wok with oil.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of shrimp paste and blended mixture to wok.
6. Add marinaded chicken, 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon paprika and 1 tablespoon curry powder. Cook chicken through.
7. Add 1 can of coconut milk and bring to a boil. Turn down the temperature and allow to simmer.

Soup

1. Put 1 cup yellow split peas in blender and grind to a powder. Put this in the toaster oven or in a shallow pan on low heat to toast until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
2. Heat oil in deep soup pan.
3. Add 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 tablespoon fish sauce and 1 chopped onion. Cook onions through.
4. Add 1 litre chicken stock (could be prepared ahead of time from the chicken bones).
5. In a separate mixing bowl, dissolve toasted, split pea powder with water to form a thin paste and pour into the soup.
6. Add 1 can of coconut milk and bring to a boil. Turn down the temperature and allow to simmer.

Enjoy with egg noodles and sliced hard boiled eggs. Garnish with lime, coriander and crushed chilli.  Also, for some reason, the soup is much better the next day!