Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen

This is an expertly written cookbook by MiMi Aye that combines her personal history, love of the food, insight into her culture and recipes in a way that feels really easy to read along with. There are a mix of really easy simple recipes and more detailed recipes for when you've got more time on your hands. What's also great about the book is you get an understanding of the flavour profiles of the Burmese cuisine, which in turn increases your own understanding. My favourite revelation so far is the fish sauce and peanut butter dressing. I also like that MiMi takes the time to debunk the myths of MSG. I love MSG and I'm glad to see food writers standing up for it!

Mandalay is a gorgeous book, bright and cheerful not only on the outside but also the recipes and stories inside. It looks inviting and it is. Before buying Mandalay I knew very little about Burma and certainly nothing about the food. Mimi writes with such passion and such fond memories that you cannot help but smile while you are reading and be excited to get stuck in and start cooking. One of the things I loved reading about the most was the idea of living somewhere where you greet each other asking “have you eaten yet?” Truly a place after my own heart. If you have never cooked Burmese cuisine and are not sure what dish to pair with what other dished then fear not, Mimi has put together lots of menu ideas for all sorts of scenarios which have dishes that work really well together. What I love the most about Mandalay though is the gorgeous food and how well the recipes work. I have tried a few different dishes and they do work really well, free of moderations which is always a good thing. The Burmese fried chicken, onion sticky rice and creamed sweetcorn were insanely good and will definitely be repeated.

This is such a fantastic book on Burmese cuisine! The recipes are well-researched, extensive, and varied, and are so easy to follow and delicious. But most importantly, they authentically capture the tone, taste, and tenor of the delicious and diverse food cultures of Myanmar. I absolutely loved the author's juxtaposition of personal memoir alongside the recipes, which makes for a wonderful (and at times poignant read--see also the author's activism regarding raising awareness on what's happening in Myanmar now). I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the cuisine of this rich and historic culture; and for anyone who is looking to familiarise themselves with the food of a country that doesn't get as much spotlight as the cuisines of the South Asian or popular South East Asian regions.

My mother is Burmese and so I've grown up eating Burmese food and around Burmese culture. Although I cook some food it never tastes nearly as good as my mother's food or indeed my wider family. Mimi Aye's book is more than a recipe book - it's full of stories, beautiful photography, tips, secret weapons, menu suggestions, pronunciations and more. It also covers a really wide range of Burmese dishes from its light soups that my mother makes, to snacks including pickled tea (try it - it's not what it seems), and many of the curries and noodle dishes that I grew up on. My favourite dish - Ohn-no Khao She - I've struggled to get right but I followed Mimi's method and it turned out perfectly. I was blown away. When I visited my family in Burma, they would turn out beautiful multi-dish meals using just a rice cooker and a one-ring electric ring. Similarly with Mimi's recipe's you don't have to have a dozen things on the go at the same time. The ingredients for most of the dishes are available in supermarkets and there's a few things that you might want to try that can be found in Asian supermarkets or online. I've bought my mother Burmese cookbooks in the past and they gathered dust on the shelves. However, she loves this book and takes it to bed with her to read. High praise indeed.

From Elizabeth David to Anthony Bourdain, the best cookbooks are autobiographical; there's nothing better than sitting at the kitchen table engrossed in a cookbook for the stories and memories attached to the recipes! Mimi Aye has achieved this with Mandalay, which opens with a gorgeous account of her family and childhood memories of food in Burma. It moves onto a section on Burmese food and store cupboard ingredients (and alternatives) AND an excellent educational piece on MSG! Recipes are clear and easy to follow, again with suggestions on alternative ingredients if you struggle to find them, though anyone in a large town or city shouldn't have any issues. Each recipe is beautifully photographed and reading each one makes your mouth water. In the myriad of Asian cookbooks available, Mandalay is a true ruby in the dust with something delicious for everyone.

I’ve had a bit of an obsession with Burmese food for 40 years, having worked alongside Burmese post-graduate students and enjoyed their cooking Six years ago I visited Myanmar and had some great meals and a really good holiday all round. So this book is just what I wanted. The family history and travelogue blend well with the recipes, and it works well as a whole. MiMi Aye’s personally comes across strongly I think (I have only met her once, briefly). I’ve made a few recipes and can follow the instructions easily, and they work. I aim to make many more. The information on menu planning and serving is really useful, no difficulty in putting a meal together. Tip: Buttered Lentil Rice is so easy and so good, you will wonder why you have been eating plain rice, it goes with everything, I got the Kindle edition, as I find eBooks easier to read than print, and it’s a reading book as well as a recipe collection. If it were purely a cookbook I’d probably have gone for hard copy as it’s so beautifully laid out with great photos (those are in the eBook too). The only slight annoyance is that there's no index in the Kindle edition, which is apparently Bloomsbury standard practice

An excellent publication which is an interesting read as well as just a recipe book. Many of the recipes are easy and the ingredients that aren’t already in your cupboard can easily be found in supermarkets or on line. These recipes are REALLY different. The Burmese curries here are like no curries I have tasted around the world. They are not chilli hot, so would be perfectly acceptable to anyone who doesn’t like ‘spicy’ food, but have great taste and interesting flavour combinations. The favourites in my family that I have tried so far are: Classic Pork Curry (which I also adapted later to work with chicken thighs as well), Duck Egg Curry and Lime Leaf Pot Roast Beef. I’m still working my way through and there are plenty yet to try..This is one of the best recipe books I have bought in years!

Love the book which has arrived in time for Christmas.

Due to everything going on with the Myanmar people, and their revolution to rid themselves of the brutal unchecked military regime, I've been introduced in a tangential way to Burmese culture. Everything in this book looks wonderful, and while I have not had time to prepare recipes from it yet, i've read the entire intro and looked through the entire book -- the stories are wonderful, and the food memories are endearing, and the photography of the dishes look good enough to eat-- or at least lick. ;-) I would recommend paying attention to the situation in Myanmar/Burma, and in purchasing this book of recipes and memories of a better time for these warm, wonderful people.

MiMi's book is an exquisite example of contextual food writing and storytelling through recipes. Her dishes and condiments are vibrant, delicious, and make me want to learn more about Burmese food culture. Definitely add this one to your cookbook shelves!

Authentic recipes from Burma. Beautifully written, with gorgeous photographs. Bought it for my Burmese husband- and he says it's food his Mum would make. Highly recommend as an introduction to true Burmese cuisine.

This is the most explicit and well written book

I bought this as a gift for my husband who grew up in Burma. It was the most special gift I gave him for his birthday this year. He was actually familiar with nearly all the recipes and ingredients, so I know it is an authentic cook book! It reminded him of his home and family and brought up stories of the times he has eaten these meals. He was so excited that he started cooking a few appetizers the first day for me and my parents. I have to say, I was very impressed!! This is a cook book we will share within our family and actually use in our kitchen. It's also written very well as the author shares some of her story and makes each recipe feel like a story. Thank you for writing this cook book and sharing these recipes!