Myanmar's growing gastro-diplomacy w/ Let Zwe Cook

[instrumental music plays] I've noticed a similar trend in Thailand where when I first came here, um, seeing a lot of the Burmese restaurants in Chiang Mai, it was kind of unique of the, you know, there's a, there's a Myanmar restaurant, there's another Myanmar restaurant.

As you mentioned, it, it feels like there's one in every neighborhood of Bangkok.

Right, right.

And in Chiang Mai, I was always, uh, really happy to know that not only was Myanmar food very famous there, but it was the Shan food specifically that people would go to taste.

Mm-hmm.

And I think it's really interesting that, especially here in Mae Sot, so much of the food overlaps a bit, um, becomes this almost like Thai-Myanmar fusion, like, uh, khao soi and ohn no khao swe are very similar foods.

Right.

Very, very similar.

[laughs]

Yeah, and you even see a bit of the linguistic overlap, right? Both countries have something like papaya salad or, um, you know, different types of salad that feel like they overlap a bit, and seeing even Thai restaurants here that will carry, um, like tea leaf salad or laphet thoke, a- also marketing those to like a Thai audience as well, which is super interesting.

Um, have you seen any other examples now that you're in Cambodia? Um, you know, I always think of Myanmar and Cambodia as countries that maybe don't have as much in common because they don't have a border overlap like Myanmar and Thailand does.

Have you seen any types of fusion foods that are starting or ways in which people are mixing these two cuisines?

Um, well, [laughs] that is also a very great question.

Uh, I, I would say that there are more similarities, uh, in culinary techniques that overlap between, um, the cultures.

Not just Thailand, not just Cambodian food, not just Burmese food.

It's across, um, all Southeast Asian countries.

The farther you try to look into it, uh, the more you will find out, and I think most people, um, who haven't really studied about it might assume that these cuisines are more distinct from each other than they actually are.

Like you just said, um, coconut noodles, for example, right? Myanmar has ohn no khao swe and Thailand has khao soi, but they're actually both this rich coconut milk noodle that are remarkably similar in the concept.

Uh, they have the coconut base, the noodles, and something deep-fried for the garnish.

The only differences they have is in specific ingredients and the proportions, but the DNA is shared.

So you could call them, you know, they're not siblings, but they're still cousins.

In terms of Burmese food and Cambodian food, um, there is something similar as well.

Look at mohinga, right? Myanmar's national dish.

Everyone love it, a fish-based noodle soup.

And if we look at nom banh chok from Cambodia, you can literally see that they have the same concept.

[instrumental music plays] I've noticed a similar trend in Thailand where when I first came here, um, seeing a lot of the Burmese restaurants in Chiang Mai, it was kind of unique of the, you know, there's a, there's a Myanmar restaurant, there's another Myanmar restaurant.

As you mentioned, it, it feels like there's one in every neighborhood of Bangkok.

Right, right.

And in Chiang Mai, I was always, uh, really happy to know that not only was Myanmar food very famous there, but it was the Shan food specifically that people would go to taste.

Mm-hmm.

And I think it's really interesting that, especially here in Mae Sot, so much of the food overlaps a bit, um, becomes this almost like Thai-Myanmar fusion, like, uh, khao soi and ohn no khao swe are very similar foods.

Right.

Very, very similar.

[laughs]

Yeah, and you even see a bit of the linguistic overlap, right? Both countries have something like papaya salad or, um, you know, different types of salad that feel like they overlap a bit, and seeing even Thai restaurants here that will carry, um, like tea leaf salad or laphet thoke, a- also marketing those to like a Thai audience as well, which is super interesting.

Um, have you seen any other examples now that you're in Cambodia? Um, you know, I always think of Myanmar and Cambodia as countries that maybe don't have as much in common because they don't have a border overlap like Myanmar and Thailand does.

Have you seen any types of fusion foods that are starting or ways in which people are mixing these two cuisines?

Um, well, [laughs] that is also a very great question.

Uh, I, I would say that there are more similarities, uh, in culinary techniques that overlap between, um, the cultures.

Not just Thailand, not just Cambodian food, not just Burmese food.

It's across, um, all Southeast Asian countries.

The farther you try to look into it, uh, the more you will find out, and I think most people, um, who haven't really studied about it might assume that these cuisines are more distinct from each other than they actually are.

Like you just said, um, coconut noodles, for example, right? Myanmar has ohn no khao swe and Thailand has khao soi, but they're actually both this rich coconut milk noodle that are remarkably similar in the concept.

Uh, they have the coconut base, the noodles, and something deep-fried for the garnish.

The only differences they have is in specific ingredients and the proportions, but the DNA is shared.

So you could call them, you know, they're not siblings, but they're still cousins.

In terms of Burmese food and Cambodian food, um, there is something similar as well.

Look at mohinga, right? Myanmar's national dish.

Everyone love it, a fish-based noodle soup.

And if we look at nom banh chok from Cambodia, you can literally see that they have the same concept.