Rakhine Mont Di
“Rakhine rice-noodle soup with fish broth, ground roasted-chili oil, and sour palm-juice tinge. Hotter and sourer than Bamar mohinga.”
Where it comes from
Rakhine-state staple from the Bay-of-Bengal coast around Sittwe (Akyab). Distinguished from Bamar mohinga by use of palm-juice vinegar (htan-yay-tu) and bird's-eye chili rather than lemongrass.
On the plate
Thin orange-tinted broth, slick rice strands, raw red-chili-oil slick on top burns immediately, palm-vinegar sour kicks 3 seconds later. Eaten with raw red onion and lime wedge.
How it works
Chilies are dry-roasted whole over charcoal until cracked-skin black, then ground with garlic and steeped in coconut-fish oil — the roast-burn flavor (not just heat) is the Rakhine signature.
Sittwe's Royal Sittwe restaurant serves it for 3,000 kyat with a side of fermented-fish ngapi yay — chef Daw Aye Aye uses fresh hilsa from the Kaladan river estuary.
Variations
Sittwe version uses hilsa fish; Thandwe coast version south uses snapper and is sweeter from added palm sugar. Diaspora Yangon version cuts chili by half to suit Bamar palates.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
4 steps · Show ↓10 min active · 25 min waiting
How it's made
4 steps · Show ↓- 125 min
Simmer Rakhine river fish + lemongrass + chili oil in 2 L water 25 min.
- 22 min
Add palm-juice tinge (or unripe palm fruit) for sourness.
- 36 min
Boil rice noodles separately; ladle hot broth over.
- 42 min
Garnish with extra chili oil and lime.
