Ono kau swe

pronounced: oh no! cow sway

A good friend here at school is from Burma. Let's call her by the initials of her first name, KKS. Well, KKS and I have been whipping up a few dinners here and there because she wants to learn basic kitchen skills. We began a year ago with how to cut cantaloupe and progressed to trussing chickens last month. KKS has lamented the fact that there is not one Burmese restaurant in Chicagoland... not one! I can't even imagine the anguish of not having easy access to one's comfort foods.

KKS learning to sautée

After she became more comfortable in the kitchen, I asked about her favorite foods and expressed interest in helping her make one of them. This time, though, she would need to take the reins and teach me. KKS became so enthused about this project -- she has never made Burmese food herself -- that she spent an entire evening on the phone with her mom, talking in their native Burmese language, getting the recipe to her favorite dish. She admitted to spending four hours grocery shopping for these ingredients! Seems excessive, but then again I've probably spent cumulatively more time than that reading labels and smelling produce in American grocery stores.

What resulted was a delicious mix between Indian and Thai food. When finished, the curry sauce tastes like it is missing something. That's because it needs raw garnishes! Serve the noodles (about half the amount your eyes want to eat) in a bowl and ladle the curry sauce over it. Add raw onion, cilantro, lime, and hard boiled eggs to taste. Mix it all together. Enjoy!

After rubbing turmeric all over the chicken. I had to paint my nails after this to hide the yellow.

marinating chicken + prepping the other ingredients

With so much chicken we doubled the recipe

garnishes

My mom's ono kau swe
(an email from KKS)

Rub chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, turmeric, curry. Marinate for at least 30 min, or overnight.
Saute chicken with minced garlic, ginger, and onions.
Add 1 can of coconut milk and mix.
Add 4 cups of water and boil until chicken is cooked.

In a separate bowl, take 2 spoons of dried ground lentil beans and mix well with water so no clumps (acts like a starch and adds flavor). [Note: we ground lentils in my Magic Bullet.] Add this to the soup. Add salt to taste.

Boil egg noodles in a different pot.

Cut onions, cilantro, hard boiled eggs, and lime for end seasonings that will be added in eating bowl.

I also found a website with a similar recipe, but I'm biased toward my mom's.