Popular Shan Snacks of Burma

Everywhere I travel to, I try and taste their local food as long as it is vegetarian. While I was in the Shan state of Myanmar, I got the opportunity to taste two yummy snacks, Hin Tou and the Tea Leaves Salad. These snacks are so good that the locals seem to enjoy it every evening.


Hin Tou is pounded rice with onions and greens steamed in a banana leaf and then served with roasted garlic, oil and fish sauce. Tea Leaves Salad is a salad with some greens, tomatoes from the Inle Lake and a variety of roasted and deep fried nuts and beans that include peanuts, broad beans, soya beans and more. The salad is served with chillies, coriander leaves, roasted garlic, oil and fish sauce.


If you are a vegetarian and/or do not like the taste of fish sauce, you can tell them to skip the fish sauce for your snack. The rough cost of a plate of either of these snacks should be 700 kyat for a small plate and 1000 kyat for a large plate. These are costs of the street and hence the prices will be higher if you order them in a restaurant. Both these snacks are addictive, so be prepared to eat more than one and may be skip your dinner.