About Clothing, Food and Shelter -Food- From a Myanmar, American and Filipino Perspective

The first thing I tried when I came to Japan was tendon (tempura rice bowl). It was so delicious that I ate it without leaving any leftovers. There is nothing similar to a tendon in the Philippines.

I had grilled mackerel at a Japanese restaurant for the first time. It was so good that I still remember the taste 14 years later.

You never forget the first thing you tried, right?

In the area of my hometown in Myanmar, fish is rarely grilled, but rather stewed or fried.

The first Japanese food I had was soba noodles that I had with my host family at the airport when I was a high school student in Japan for the first time. It was something I had never tasted before. When I entered the restaurant, I was impressed by the very cheerful "Irasshaimase"(welcome) and "Arigatou-gozaimashita"(thank you very much).

At first, I could not eat sashimi or sushi, because we don't eat raw fish in the Philippines. Now I like sushi and yakitori the best.

I get it, (raw fish) made me uneasy too. I remember eating sushi in the U.S. as well, but it is totally different from Japanese ones. It has tempura and sauce.

What surprised me was that you eat grilled fish kama (the giblets of fish). When I ate kama-yaki (grilled fish gills), I was surprised at how delicious it was! Whenever my friends come over, I tell them to try it.

I had never heard of fish kama. What surprised me about Japanese food was the eel. When I first came to Japan, I thought, "Are Japanese peoplewe going to eat that?”, but when I tried it, it was very tasty.

I was amazed by the liver sashimi (raw fish or meat) and horse-meat sashimi. I wondered why they eat them.

Actually, I often cook Filipino food.

I cook mostly Burmese food at home.

I have been a vegan since I was a university student. When I was a child, I ate fish and eggs, but I never ate meat. In Japan, it is not easy to find vegan ingredients like I used to eat in my home country, so I make my own food with what I can find. Can you find ingredients for your native cuisine in Japan?

Ingredients are easy to find here. I often buy them at a Burmese food store in Takadanobaba, but you can also find them in supermarkets.

Filipino seasonings are also easy to find. These days, even large supermarkets have a good selection of Asian seasonings.

The seasoning often used in Burmese cooking is fish sauce. When I cook Japanese dishes such as ginger saute and pork miso soup, I use Japanese soy sauce, but for other dishes, I use fish sauce.

In the Philippines, the seasoning we often use is called patis. It tastes the same as fish sauce. There are also various kinds of ketchup, such as banana ketchup. The color is red, not yellow.

The most popular seasoning in the U.S. is mustard. There are about 100 varieties, and they are cheap. In Japan, there are not many kinds of mustard and it is expensive.

I don't eat out very often.

When I do eat out, I eat what I like, such as sushi or yakitori (grilled chicken skewer). I don't eat Filipino food when I eat out. I only go to a Filipino restaurant when I have a party for someone's birthday or something.

I rarely eat out. I was on a street live tour in Japan in 2019, traveling all over Japan, and I had a lot of trouble because myself and one other person were vegans. There’s not much vegan food in Japan, so I got sick from eating only umeboshi onigiri (pickled plum rice balls). When I came back to Japan in 2022, there were more vegan restaurants in Tokyo. But I think it is still inconvenient for vegans in Japan.

My specialty is vegan desserts. Since I don't have an oven in Japan, I’m good at making soup with vegetables, tofu, and noodles. I add lots of spices such as cumin and cardamom, and I like spicy food, so I also add habaneros and hot sauces.

What I often make is fish and water spinach sour soup. It is a spicy and sour soup, but with this soup, you don't need any other side dishes. It is good over rice or as is. I also add fish sauce, tamarind, and chili peppers.

My children say, "Mama's sinigang is delicious!” So sinigang is my specialty. It is a soup with lots of vegetables.

There is a bento culture in the Philippines. We prepare food at home, put it in plastic containers, and bring it to picnics. When I go to work, I put rice and side dishes in a plastic bag and bring it with me. I have a bento box, but the plastic bag is easier.

In Myanmar, there are no school lunches and not many bento boxes are sold at stores, so everyone from elementary school students to adults bring their own lunch boxes. Since rice and soup are divided into separate containers, men carry three or four-tiered lunch boxes and women carry two-tiered lunch boxes. On weekends, we sometimes take our lunch boxes to the zoo or a park for a picnic.

I am surprised that you take your lunch to the zoo!

In the Philippines, we also take our lunch boxes to the zoo.

The school I went to had a school lunch, and it was called "hot lunch”. There were many unhealthy dishes like pizza, macaroni, chicken nuggets, etc. My family was vegetarian, so I took nuts, sandwiches, carrots and celery to school. It was rare at the time, but now I think more people might bring healthy lunches.

For birthdays, I always prepare something long. It is necessary to have grilled rice vermicelli or spaghetti.

That's interesting! To live longer?

That's right. And for New Year's, we prepare 13 kinds of round fruits. 13 is a lucky number, and round things mean money, so we hope that we will have no trouble with food and money for a whole year. Even if you don't have money, New Year's Day will be extravagant. You can always find a pile of fruits on display in some houses.

New Year's Day in Myanmar is in April, and just like in Japan, rice cakes are eaten with various flavors. Every month there are various festivals, such as the Hta Ma Nae Festival in February, where people make Hta Ma Nae snack, a sweet made of coconut, peanuts, sesame seeds, glutinous rice, and oil. We make it with the neighbors and eat it together. During the Full Moon Festival in November, people eat the Flower bud of Mel Za Li Tree Salad, a salad of flower buds called Mel Za Li Phoo Thoke. It is a bit bitter, but everyone believes that bitter food is good for you. It is believed that if you eat it on the night of the full moon, you will be healthy for a whole year.

Something like New Year's in the U.S. is Christmas. We spend it with friends or family. In February, we celebrate Valentine's Day, which makes us want to eat chocolate and other sweet things. In March, there is St. Patrick’s Day, where all the city is filled with green colors. I go to McDonald's to buy a mint-flavored drink. Then there is Easter, which is often associated with sweets. We also have a kind of treasure hunt where we hide eggs made of plastic in various places and the children have to find them.