Meeshay (, ; also spelt mi shay, mee shay, mee shei) is a

Burmese cuisine Burmese cuisine () encompasses the diverse regional culinary traditions of Myanmar, which have developed through longstanding agricultural practices, centuries of sociopolitical and economic change, and cross-cultural contact and trade with ne ...

dish of

rice noodle Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

s with a meat sauce. The dish originated from the Chinese ''mixian'' (

simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

: 米线) and became a specialty of the

Shan people The Shan people ( shn, တႆး; , my, ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; ), also known as the Tai Long, or Tai Yai are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in th ...

of Eastern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. Regional variants exist, but the two main types are the normal Mogok meeshay and the

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

version. ''Myay-oh meeshay'' () is a

Yunnanese Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

version in which the rice noodles are cooked in a clay pot and the dish is served with a large quantity of soup and fresh vegetables. The meat sauce is mainly made with pork or chicken. All forms of meeshay may be accompanied by mohnyin tjin (a popular Shan pickle made of

mustard greens ''Brassica juncea'', commonly brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, leaf mustard, Oriental mustard and vegetable mustard, is a species of mustard plant. Cultivar ''Brassica juncea'' cultivars can be divided into four major subgroups ...

, carrots and other vegetables fermented in

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermented and distilled from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch that has been converted to sugars. Microbes are the so ...

) and clear soup usually of chicken broth with

scallion Scallions (also known as spring onions or green onions) are vegetables derived from various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions and their close relatives include garlic, shallot, leek, ch ...

s. Another common side dish to meeshay is fried

Burmese tofu Burmese tofu ( my, တိုဖူး, ; or my, တိုဟူး, ) is a food of Shan origin, made from water and flour ground from yellow split peas and the Burmese version of chickpea flour, also known as ''besan'' flour, in a fashion sim ...

fritter A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables or other ingredients which have been Batter (cooking), battered or breading, breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-frying, deep-fried. Fritters ar ...

s. Although a distinctly Shan dish, meeshay is popular in the major towns across Myanmar (Burma). Restaurant chains devoted to Shan dishes are popular in

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

where meeshay is one of the top choices amongst customers. Meeshay and other Shan dishes, are rich and comparatively bland (without the optional chilli flakes) due to the Highland culture of the Shan people. They are seen as novelty foods for typical city and town dwellers, as they present a deviation from typical Burmese cuisine dishes. Meeshay is a popular breakfast, brunch and light lunch option for many folks in Myanmar's cities and towns.

Variations

Shan / Mogok meeshay

In the original dish of meeshay, also called

Mogok Mogok (, ; Shan: , ) is a town in the Thabeikkyin District of Mandalay Region of Myanmar, located north of Mandalay and north-east of Shwebo. History Mogok is believed to have been founded in 1217 by three lost Shan hunters who discovered r ...

meeshay, the meat is cooked in a light sauce with onion, and is mixed with rice noodles. Alongside the meat sauce, a brown tangy rice flour gel with cane or rice vinegar, a dressing of soy sauce, fried peanut oil, chilli oil, and a garnish of crisp fried onions, spring onions and coriander are also added. A similar dish with tomatoes, called Shan khauk swè, is a 'soup version' without the gel, and fish sauce instead of soy sauce, with flat or round noodles, where the soup is part of the dish itself, rather than as consommé.

Mandalay meeshay

Mandalay meeshay ( my, မန္တလေးမြီးရှေ‌), a more elaborate dish, uses medium rice noodles and has a thicker, oilier meat sauce. A thicker rice flour glop is added. It is dressed with fried peanut oil, salted fermented soybeans and chilli oil, then garnished with blanched bean sprouts, pickled daikon, fried batter, crushed garlic and coriander. As the name suggests, the dish is a regional variation from Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city with a rich Shan cultural influence.

Myay-oh meeshay

Myay-oh meeshay () is a Yunnanese inspired dish, in which the rice noodles are cooked in a clay pot. The dish has a greater quantity of soup and includes fresh vegetables.

References

External links