Nan Gyi Thoke
“Bamar thick-rice-noodle salad — round noodles tossed with chicken curry, chickpea flour, hard-boiled egg, fried onion, lime.”
Where it comes from
Mandalay-region invention, late-19th to early-20th-century — the salad treatment of curry-noodle, distinct from the soup version. The thick round nan gyi noodle is named after its diameter, gyi meaning 'big' in Burmese.
On the plate
Thick fat white noodles, every strand coated in a small amount of yellow chicken curry, with the dry crunch of chickpea-flour powder and fried onion. Bright with lime. Foreigners call it 'Burmese spaghetti' for shape, not for sauce.
How it works
Curry is reduced almost dry — too wet, the salad becomes soup; too dry, it won't coat. Chickpea-flour powder must be added at the table, not in the kitchen, or it absorbs moisture and clumps. Hand-mixing is essential.
U Aung Thaung's 1958 'Myanma Hsa Hpyat Tha-yet' lists nan gyi thoke as a Mandalay specialty distinct from Yangon mohinga. Mandalay's Tha Pyay Nyo restaurant has run a 5-table nan-gyi-only shop since 1975.
Variations
Mandalay version uses chicken-thigh curry. Yangon shops often substitute coconut chicken curry (effectively dry ohn no khao swè). Pyin Oo Lwin hill-station version adds shredded boiled potato.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
4 steps · Show ↓13 min active · 40 min waiting
How it's made
4 steps · Show ↓- 140 min
Make light chicken curry: chicken + onion + garlic + ginger + turmeric + fish sauce, simmer 40 min.
- 26 min
Boil round Bamar rice noodles 4 min; drain.
- 34 min
Toss noodles with chickpea flour, sliced onion, chili oil, fish sauce.
- 43 min
Top with curry sauce, boiled egg quartered, fried onion, lime.
