Mohinga recipe

Burmese breakfast noodle soup whose broth is thickened with toasted chickpea flour and ground toasted rice, and given body by banana stem that cooks down into fibres.

1 hour and 50 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 100 g toasted chickpea flour
• 300 g banana stem
• 600 g catfish
• 50 g toasted rice powder
• 2 tbsp ngapi (fermented fish paste)
• 3 stick lemongrass
• 400 g rice vermicelli
• 2 onions
• 6 clove garlic
• 30 g ginger
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 3 tbsp fish sauce

How to make Mohinga

1. Toast 100 g of chickpea flour in a dry pan over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty. Separately toast 50 g of raw rice until brown and grind it fine. These two are what make mohinga thick; without them you only have fish soup.
2. Poach 600 g of catfish in 2 litres of water with 2 bruised lemongrass stalks for 20 minutes. Lift the fish out, flake it, and keep the broth.
3. Blend 2 onions, 6 garlic cloves, 30 g of ginger, 1 lemongrass stalk and 2 teaspoons of turmeric into a paste, then fry it in oil for 10 minutes until the oil separates.
4. Stir in the flaked fish and 2 tablespoons of ngapi and fry 5 more minutes.
5. Slice 300 g of banana stem paper-thin, rubbing it with lemon water so it does not brown, and add it to the broth with the fried paste. If you cannot find banana stem there is no real substitute; the broth will simply be lighter.
6. Whisk the toasted chickpea flour and rice powder with cold water into a smooth slurry, pour it into the soup and simmer 30 to 40 minutes, stirring often, until it coats a spoon and the banana stem falls apart into fibres.
7. Season with 3 tablespoons of fish sauce and chilli to taste.
8. Cook 400 g of rice vermicelli, divide into bowls, ladle the soup over, and top with halved boiled egg, split-pea fritters, fried garlic, coriander and a wedge of lime.

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