Pungent nga pi chet — or ‘cooked fermented fish’ — is a staple dish for many in Myanmar, particularly the central regions. Every household has their own special variation, adding a handful of dried prawns here, a dollop of fish paste there.
This recipe, passed down through the generations of one Mandalay family, was elevated to national fame in the mid 1990s by Ludu Daw Amar, one of Myanmar’s most celebrated writers. She wrote a magazine article about the dish in the style of a conversation with her close friend Mi Mi Lay, who had recently cooked it for her.
Mi Mi Lay was a great beauty and charismatic local figure in Mandalay, who had lived through the terrors of the World War II bombings that smashed through the city. She never married, but adopted one of her nephews and raised him as her own, as well as a growing brood of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She entrusted her acclaimed nga pi chet method to her granddaughters. One of them, Thit Thit Win, cooked it for us under Mi Mi Lay's guidance, telling us the secret to the dish was the use of fermented and salted cat fish.
Sadly Mi Mi Lay passed away in June 2017, aged 97. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to spend time with her and to taste her famous nga pi chet.
Ingredients:
ငါးမြင်းငါးပိတစ် Cat fish fermented and salted in big earthen containers (about 250g, cubed)
ခရမ်းချဉ်သီး Tomatoes
ကြက်သွန်နီ Shallots
ပုဇွန်ခြောက် Dried Prawns
ပဲဆီ Peanut Oil
ဆနွင်း Pinch of turmeric
ငံပြာရည် Fish sauce
ငရုတ်သီးစိမ်း Fresh chilies
ဆား Salt
Slice about six shallots finely using a mandolin. Squeeze the seeds and liquid from ten medium-sized tomatoes, to avoid adding tartness to the dish, then mince or finely chop them.
Heat a generous slug of oil in your frying pan and wait until it’s very hot (in Myanmar people say the hot oil is ’cooked’). Then fry the shallots with a pinch of turmeric.
Time for dried shrimps — two handfuls. Add fresh chilies to taste and then pour in the tomatoes. You can add a little water to loosen the sauce. Leave to simmer for up to 30 minutes.
When the water has evaporated from the sauce, leaving only the oil (or ‘si pyan’ in Myanmar, which literally means ‘returning of the oil’), throw in the catfish cubes. Then stir in salt and fish sauce to taste.
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with rice or boiled vegetables.
