Burmese Condiments: The Toppings and Pastes to Know

Burmese food sits between India, China and Thailand, and it borrows from all three, but the way it is eaten is its own. Rice is the centre of the meal, curries and soups go around it, and the table is filled with small condiments so each person can make every mouthful a bit crunchier, saltier or hotter. If you are new to the cuisine, our beginner's guide to eating Burmese food explains how a meal comes together.

The condiments

Balachaung

A dry, crunchy relish of dried shrimp fried with lots of garlic, shallots and chilli. It is salty, savoury and very moreish, and it keeps for weeks in a jar. Burmese families eat it with plain rice, sprinkle it over salads and pack it for long journeys.

Ngapi

Fermented fish or shrimp paste, and the deep savoury base of much Burmese cooking. It is strong on its own, so it is usually cooked into curries and dips rather than eaten straight. Southeast Asian shrimp paste from an Asian supermarket is the closest you will find in the UK.

Fish sauce

The thin, salty liquid poured off fermented fish. A few drops go into soups, salads and dressings, and a small dish of it, sometimes with chilli and lime, sits on many Burmese tables.

Lahpet

Fermented tea leaves, one of the most famous Burmese foods. They are mixed with crunchy fried beans, peanuts, sesame, garlic, tomato and cabbage to make lahpet thoke, the tea leaf salad. You can read more about how it is made in Burmawala Kitchen's guide to Burmese pickled tea leaves.

Fried onion oil and crispy onions

Onions or shallots fried slowly in oil until golden and crisp. Both parts are used: the crispy onions go on top of noodles, salads and rice, and the onion-flavoured oil is drizzled over almost everything. It is one of the defining flavours of Burmese food.

Fried garlic and garlic oil

Made the same way as the onions. Crispy garlic is a key topping for noodle dishes like ohn no khao swe and its South Asian cousin khow suey. See our full list of khow suey toppings.

Toasted chickpea flour

Chickpea flour, or gram flour, dry fried until golden and nutty. It thickens soups like mohinga and ohn no khao swe, and it is sprinkled into salads to give them body. It is one of the less obvious ingredients that makes Burmese food taste Burmese.

Fried dried chilli

Dried chilli flakes or powder fried briefly in hot oil, for the people at the table who want heat. Burmese food is usually gently spiced, so the heat is often added at the table rather than cooked in.

Rice toppers like thami letto

The topping that goes into htamin let thok, the Burmese hand-mixed rice dish: roasted peanuts, toasted sesame, fried onions, gram flour and spices, mixed all the way through warm rice. Thami Letto is my mother Aamna's version, made by hand in Hackney and sold in jars, in a Fish version with sardines and fish sauce and a Vegan version without.

How Burmese condiments compare

Where to buy Burmese condiments in the UK

Burmese shops are rare in the UK, but most of the building blocks are easy to find. Dried shrimp, shrimp paste and fish sauce are in any Asian supermarket. Crispy fried onions and gram flour are in every South Asian grocer and most large supermarkets. Fermented tea leaves are harder to find and are mostly sold online. Burmawala Kitchen's Burmese ingredients guide goes through what to buy and where.

If you want the taste of a Burmese rice topping without making each part from scratch, that is what Thami Letto is for.

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