A Burmese Garden Potluck

It wasn’t your everyday picnic. Instead of shorts and jeans, some of the women wore sarongs. Tables were covered with exotic Asian fabrics. And the food was even more exotic--chicken smothered in spices, noodle salad with mango dressing, jasmine rice flavored with coconut and served in an antique silver bowl from northern Thailand.

Although the look and the flavors were tropical, the location was South Pasadena, the home of Molly Kellogg and her husband, landscape designer Mark Brownstein. If the weather had been hotter and more humid, their backyard could have been a garden in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), the capital of Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Why that comparison? Because this was a Myanmar party, a potluck dinner staged by the newly formed Myanmar Arts Council of the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. The music, most of the guests and most of the food were Burmese. Even those who were not Burmese had some sort of link to the country.

Betty Wiechec and her husband Don, for example, travel repeatedly to Myanmar to take photographs for a book on the country. They brought the mango-dressed noodle salad. “We had something similar in Bagan at a wonderful place named River View that overlooks the Irrawady [now Ayeyarwaddy River],” says Betty Wiechec. “We ate there every day and every night that we were in Bagan. Tables were outside under a huge old tree. The food was delicious, really lovely.”

Leilei Thein, who was about to leave for Myanmar, prepared chicken curry in the style of Mawlamyine, (formerly Moulmein), where she grew up. The chicken was juicy with ground onion and yogurt. “In Burma, chickens are not soft, like here,” she says. “Marinating with yogurt makes the chicken tastier and more tender.”

A raft of spices, including an awesome amount of cumin, goes into this dish. Nevertheless, the flavor is mellow, not dominated by spices, and the yogurt adds a pleasing tang. Thein brought tea from Shan state for after dinner and wore a Shan silk costume.

At one point, Nilar Bellas performed a folk dance from her home city, Yangon. Bellas brought rice seasoned with cinnamon sticks, cinnamon tree leaves (similar to bay leaves) and barely detectable amounts of curry powder, cumin and sugar. The effect was subtle, perfumed, intriguing.

Such rice is a festival dish in Myanmar, she says, and is presented as an offering to monks. Bellas prepares it in typical Asian fashion, measuring liquid levels with a finger joint and adding sprinkles of water until the rice attains proper consistency.

Other contributions included chicken red with hot spices and a salad that combined homemade fish cake with cabbage, fried onions, fried garlic and chiles. There were a few interlopers, like Thai fish cakes and a Japanese red bean dessert. But Malaysian noodles were pure Myanmar, having been acquired long ago from Malays living on the southern coast around Mergui (now called Bak) and incorporated into Burmese cuisine.

Many of the party-goers sat around a low table on pillows placed on the grass. Antique Thai and Cambodian fabrics owned by hostess Kellogg were draped over chairs set elsewhere. And Brownstein decorated the buffet table with pluckings from the garden, including kumquats, impatiens and stephanotis. “Is this gardening or is it food?” he asked, amused at the decorations.

An expert at cooking as well as gardening, Brownstein provided desserts: a spiced apple cranberry crumble, a crust-free lemon-lime pie and coconut pudding. Were these Burmese? Of course not, but nobody seemed to mind as they wiped the dishes clean.

Countdown

Morning of party: Combine curry spices for chicken.

1 1/2 hours before: Marinate chicken with spices.

1 hour before: Start cooking chicken. Make salad dressing. Blanch and cool salad vegetables. Soak rice noodles. Cook rice noodles and combine with dressing.

45 minutes before: Wash and begin cooking jasmine rice.

20 minutes before: Add salad vegetables to noodles and dressing. Line salad bowl with romaine and add noodle mixture.

After dinner: Brew tea. Serve dessert.

Menu:

Leilei’s Chicken Curry

The Wiechecs’ Bagan Style Noodle Salad

Nilar Bellas’ Coconut Rice

Fruit or other dessert

Tea

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Ingredients

Shopping list

3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 (8-ounce) container plain yogurt

1 (2-inch) piece ginger root

1 small package fenugreek seeds

1 large mango

1 (17 1/2-ounce) can young coconut juice

3 lemons

1 jar crystallized ginger

1 bunch cilantro

1/2 pound broccoli florets

1 small cauliflower

1/4 pound green beans

1 small bunch romaine

1 (1-pound) package dried flat rice noodles

1 bunch green onions

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 pound jasmine rice

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

1 or 2 very small onions

Staples

Salt

Oil

Garlic

Turmeric

Ground red chile

Flour

Cumin

Coriander

Bay leaves

Cardamom

Ground cinnamon

Cloves

Nutmeg

Pepper

Sugar

Cinnamon sticks

Curry powder

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LEILEI THEIN’S CHICKEN CURRY

SPICE MIXTURE

3 tablespoons cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon ground bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek

SPICE MIXTURE

Combine cumin, coriander, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pepper and fenugreek. Set aside.

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CHICKEN

3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons oil

2 cups ground onions

1 (2-inch) piece ginger root, ground or finely grated

1 clove garlic, ground or finely minced

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons medium hot ground red chile

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 tablespoon flour

Wash chicken breasts, pat dry and cut into medium-size pieces. Place in baking dish and sprinkle with salt and half of Curry Spices and marinate 30 minutes.

Heat oil in medium saucepan. When hot, add onions and saute 1 minute. Add ginger, garlic and turmeric and saute 2 minutes. Add ground chile and saute 1 minute. Add chicken and stir slowly until all pieces are covered with onion mixture. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 30 minutes.

Mix yogurt and flour. Add to chicken with remaining Curry Spices and cook until chicken is done, about 10 minutes more.

4 to 6 servings. Each of 4 servings:

519 calories; 814 mg sodium; 149 mg cholesterol; 22 grams fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 64 grams protein; 1.27 grams fiber.

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THE WIECHECS’ BAGAN-STYLE NOODLE SALAD

MANGO-COCONUT DRESSING

3 cloves garlic

Juice and pulp of 1 large, very ripe peeled mango

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 (17 1/2-ounce) can young coconut juice

Juice of 3 lemons

1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, minced

1 tablespoon cilantro, minced

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

Wrap garlic cloves in foil and bake at 400 degrees 30 minutes. Mince. There should be 1 1/2 teaspoons.

Puree garlic, mango and juice, oil, coconut juice, lemon juice, ginger, cilantro and salt in blender at high speed. Makes about 4 cups.

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SALAD

10 ounces flat, dried rice noodles

Water

Ice

1/2 pound broccoli florets

1/2 pound cauliflower florets

1/4 pound green beans

2/3 cup sliced green onions

1 cup sliced red bell pepper

1 cup sliced yellow bell pepper

Romaine lettuce leaves

Soak noodles in cold water 20 minutes.

Prepare large bowl ice water for cooling vegetables.

Blanch broccoli in boiling water 4 minutes, remove from pot with slotted spoon, place in ice water until cooled; remove and set aside. In same fashion, blanch cauliflower 4 minutes and cool; blanch green beans 5 to 6 minutes and cool. (Note: There should be about 2 cups broccoli, 2 cups cauliflower and 1 cup beans.)

Drain noodles. Bring large pot water to boil. Place drained noodles in metal strainer and dip in boiling water 10 to 15 seconds. Remove from pot. Work in batches if necessary. Noodles will not be fully cooked but will soften further when combined with dressing.

Turn noodles into large bowl. Add 3 cups Mango-Coconut Dressing, mix gently and let cool.

Add broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, green onions and red and yellow bell peppers and toss gently with noodles. Line salad bowl with romaine leaves. Place noodles and vegetables in center. Serve remaining dressing on side or refrigerate for another use.

6 to 8 servings. Each of 6 servings with 1/2 cup dressing:

290 calories; 898 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 1.50 grams fiber.

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NILAR BELLAS’ COCONUT RICE

2 1/2 cups jasmine rice

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

2 cups hot water

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 tablespoon oil or butter

2 bay leaves

1 stick cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon curry powder

1 or 2 very small onions, peeled

Wash rice and drain. Repeat and drain well.

Place rice in Dutch oven. Add coconut milk, hot water, salt, sugar, oil, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cumin and curry powder and stir with wooden spoon. Cook, covered, over medium heat until boiling, about 5 minutes.

Stir with wooden spoon. Bury whole onions in rice. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until rice is tender, 18 to 20 minutes.

8 to 10 servings. Each of 8 servings:

340 calories; 600 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 13 grams fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 1.54 grams fiber.