Myanmar's beloved breakfast soup — silky catfish broth thickened with toasted chickpea flour, banana stem, and lemongrass, over rice vermicelli.
Mohinga is Myanmar's national dish and the most-eaten breakfast in the country. A broth of catfish — poached, flaked, and stirred back in — is built around lemongrass, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, and toasted chickpea flour, which gives the soup its signature silken body. Banana stem and tender heart provide texture; turmeric tints the broth pale yellow. The soup is ladled over thin rice vermicelli and topped with a thicket of garnishes: crispy fried split-pea fritters, hard-boiled egg, fresh coriander, lime, dried chili flakes, and a drizzle of fish sauce. Yangon street stalls serve it from dawn until 10 a.m., where families and office workers slurp it from clay bowls before the heat sets in.
Serves 6
Heat a dry pan over medium-low. Toast chickpea flour and rice flour separately, stirring constantly, until pale golden and nutty — 5 minutes each. Set aside. This step is essential for body and flavor.
In a large pot, combine water, lemongrass, ginger, half the onion, and 3 cloves garlic. Bring to a simmer. Add fish; poach gently 8 minutes until cooked through.
Lift fish out carefully. Strain stock into a clean pot. Flake fish into chunks, removing any bones. Discard the spent aromatics.
Pound or blend remaining onion, garlic, turmeric, curry powder, and shrimp paste with a splash of stock into a smooth paste.
Heat oil in a wide pan over medium. Add the paste; cook 6 minutes, stirring, until darkened and oil separates.
Add the fried paste to the strained stock. Bring to a simmer. Add fish sauce and banana stem (or cabbage). Simmer 10 minutes.
Whisk toasted chickpea flour and rice flour with 250 ml cold water until smooth. Stream into the simmering broth, whisking constantly. Cook 8 minutes until the soup turns silky and slightly thick.
Streaming the slurry into hot broth without lumps is the key technique — whisk continuously.
Stir in flaked fish gently. Simmer 2 minutes to warm through. Taste — adjust fish sauce. Soup should be silky, savory, and faintly tangy.
Place a nest of cooked rice vermicelli in each bowl. Ladle hot mohinga generously over the noodles. Top with half a hard-boiled egg, chopped coriander, chili flakes, and crispy fritters. Serve with a lime wedge and extra fish sauce.
Toast the chickpea flour deeply but don't burn it — it carries the dish's nutty backbone.
Banana stem is traditional but hard to find outside Asian groceries; finely sliced cabbage is the best substitute.
Add the slurry slowly while whisking — dumping it in causes irrecoverable lumps.
Crispy yellow split-pea fritters (pe gyaw) are the classic topper; if you can't make them, crispy fried garlic gives a similar crunch.
Yangon-style adds a swirl of chili oil at the table.
Mandalay-style is slightly thicker with more chickpea flour.
Vegetarian mohinga substitutes mushroom stock and uses extra toasted chickpea flour for body.
Refrigerate broth and noodles separately up to 3 days. Reheat broth gently — it thickens overnight, so loosen with hot water. Assemble fresh.
Mohinga is documented in Burmese cookbooks from the early 20th century and has roots in older catfish-and-noodle preparations of central Myanmar. It became formally the unofficial national dish in modern Myanmar and is served daily at street stalls and at major festivals from Thingyan to Thadingyut.
A vegetarian version uses a mushroom-and-vegetable stock with extra toasted chickpea flour. It's a different dish but a delicious one; Burmese Buddhist monasteries have served meatless mohinga for generations.
Mohinga should coat a spoon lightly — silky, not gluey. If it's too thick, thin with hot water; too thin, whisk in another tablespoon of toasted chickpea flour slurry and simmer.
Any firm white fish works — pollock, basa, mackerel, or even tinned sardines (Burmese home cooks often use canned fish for convenience). Avoid very delicate fish like sole, which disintegrates.
Per serving (580g) · 6 servings total
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