Burmese Food - CURRY JACUZZI!! 5 Aunty’s Cooking For Entire Shan Village!!

hey everyone good morning hope you're having an amazing day it's mark wiens i'm in the small village of mung pan which is in me hong son province in northern thailand on the border of myanmar and this village is specifically a shan people or a taiyai it's a beautiful morning and today is going to be a once in a lifetime food opportunity experience some of the aunties and some of the best cooks from the community have gathered at the house and they're going to make a massive 50 kilo pan of a dish called ganghang lei which is uh it's actually a burmese curry this is the curry you actually have to use a paddle to stir you and i were both going to be able to see the entire process from start to finish all of the herbs all of the spices all of the ingredients that go into this curry and we're gonna watch as they cook it you can see the pieces of pork belly starting to wobble and i cannot wait to share this celebration of a meal with you in this video that sauce that curry sauce is actually drinkable it could be bottled and sold as a beverage [Applause] [Music] oh man i am getting excited this is the basin of a wok that they're gonna be making the korean 50 kilos of curry [Laughter] hey [Music] the gang hungley party is about to get started uh but just to quickly show you this amazing shan tayyi shirt the shan or in thailand called the taiyai are a large ethnic group people group and actually one of the largest minority groups in myanmar originally from myanmar ah but there are many or mini taiyai within thailand as well especially in the northern provinces uh bordering myanmar we're getting started cooking right now they're bringing out the pork there's gonna be 50 kilos of pork all of the different spices there's so many ingredients that go into genghang lei this traditional version including dry spices including fresh spices and there's also many different regional variations and so this is going to be a real deal ultra authentic celebration curry and that's it that's the very first shallot peeled that's the start and you can already tell that you can just trust the aunties of this community their expertise their knowledge they're just years and years of experience [Music] another auntie is getting started peeling the garlic and this is this is the best kind of garlic home grown right here and it just hangs from the rafters of the roofs drying but this is the most fragrant this is their little bulbs uh little cloves of garlic but the most fragrant and pungent garlic in the world and then additionally there's going to be ginger there's a whole bag of ginger and then potatoes potatoes are going to be added and then on the other side of the kitchen here uncle's getting started chopping up the pork which is quite a fatty pork often often it can be uh pork belly i think it might be a mix but yeah there's a lot of pork belly you see a lot of skin there's a lot of fat on that park i mean one of the reasons why genghang lei is such a important dish is because it's so time consuming to make and there's so many steps and there's so many ingredients and so you can already see how long it takes i mean to peel shallots as well as to peel the small little bulbs of garlic uh it's a time consuming process it takes the entire community and then i was just asking some of the aunties about uh when gang hungley is typically made and although you will find genghang at almost every single northern thai restaurant traditionally it's a very special dish and even within this community it is a very special dish which is not eaten every day but it is prepared it is cooked only on big special both celebration events as well as gathering events for weddings for funerals for new year for other big occasions when everybody gets together to share a meal together so today is an extremely special day it's an honor to have a chance to be here to witness uh the community coming together to cook such a dish that that is so important within the culture [Music] um again uh genghang is a burmese curry and they specifically are making the burmese version [Music] and it works oh man that is some serious anti-wisdom right there cooking wisdom she said uh she puts a a shallot at the tip pokes it at the tip of the knife um and that way you don't cry from the fumes of the of the shallot that's what she said uh i guess it works that's something to try in your kitchen [Music] the aunties have decided that's enough garlic that's enough shallots they're moving on to peeling the potatoes and the ginger but then in the meantime another auntie is going to go over to the other side of the kitchen underneath the house and start to pound the curry paste [Laughter] okay [Laughter] she's one of the most hilarious aunties she's just always smiling always joking she's been cooking for us almost every meal while we're here and she is one of the aunties who is responsible for the recipes for knowing the quantities and ingredients and there's no recipe here it's just about the knowledge the experience and also about knowing the ratios if there's this much chili in go this many shallots and go this much lemongrass this much and this much um and she just literally and now she's just adding in some more shallots so it's just by knowledge it's just by experience and i mean for me i think that is by far the best type of cooking the eyeball and experience method all right shrimp she said that her husband's mother her mother-in-law is shan from myanmar and she's the one who taught her the recipe and she does actually have a recipe it's just in her head for every kilo of pork then she knows how to scale it and scale it up or scale it down and then another thing that she said is that she used to she knows so well and she's such an expert at making gang hungley because she used to sell it before and back at the preparation kitchen station uh serious amounts of ginger are being chopped up julianned [Music] okay okay all the preparation is almost all done they're still peeling more and more garlic ah but the pork it's a small mountain of cubed pork that's a mini bathtub sized wok that's going to go over the fire so the pork goes in first [Music] i'm dead oh [Music] this is the very interesting part of making gang hung lei is that the curry paste is not fried off first they have the pork she auntie added the curry paste that she pounded with is which is heavy on the shrimp paste mixes that in then the masala powder goes in mixes that in and next she added some sugar and they are just kind of contemplating and auntie is just thinking about it in her head how much of what to add but again zero measurements ani see you dumb cup oh man so even before the cooking you can already smell the mingling of spices the masala powder the cumin in there the turmeric in there uh yet blending with the soy sauce aroma blending with the shrimp paste the the harmony of india and southeast asia is already coming together in this pork in the wok in the pot [Music] she has the coolest cooking style ever just tossing chucking ingredients in and it's going to start a long process of cooking slowly over fire mingling one [Laughter] i believe that i just said uh curry is very delicious 50 kilos is too big for that wok so they're gonna have to use two woks [Music] foreign batch number two is on the way it's just fascinating to see this like center point of a curry of a burmese curry that has uh indian influence that has even possibly yeah some chinese influence but its own unique curry its own unique dish now that the sun has started to come out and the sun is strong i have the honor of wearing a shan hat yes okay now we are ready for this cooking session to begin it's gonna boil it's gonna simmer for the next six to eight hours and during that time uh they're gonna i believe slowly nurture it sometimes occasionally stir it but also seal in those juices and let that pork fat just melt and mingle so that it's ultra fall apart tender in your mouth when you eat it my mouth is watering already and we still have eight hours to go [Music] okay [Music] and i think actually now would be a fantastic time uh to talk a little bit about the complicated and incredible history of gang hung lei and where it comes from and the word genghang lei comes from burmese that means strong curry i believe strong curry or heavy curry strong flavored pork curry now right now if you go to any lana northern thai restaurant throughout northern thailand you will find gang hung lei on the menu and it's probably the number one dish that's associated with northern thailand and loved by everybody in northern thailand so from what i read from what i have learned uh it is often said that the burmese curry gang hyung lei was brought to northern thailand by the shan people uh and i mean that's i'm in ashan village now and so the thai or the shan are responsible for bringing the burmese curry to northern thailand where it's then spread out throughout northern thailand where there's a variety of different recipes where uh different ingredients have been added or omitted and changed foreign okay [Music] i'm then they sprinkled in the garlic all that raw peeled garlic uh a bunch of raw shallots a bunch of the julienned ginger and that gets a nice stir and that goes back on the simmer for many more hours oh man but that aroma is starting to become irresistible oh and potatoes also go in [Music] and then next uh she mashed down some tamarind sour tamarind uh got out the juice of that tamarind and tamarind goes in that's gonna give it a tart sweet and sour taste as well my game foreign [Music] [Music] the pork is starting to get to that stage where they're in thai they call it blai where it is like a braised to the point where it's fall apart tender but not mushy whatsoever but has that texture that you need with gang hung lei oh yeah so some good news it's been only two or three hours but they said it's almost ready maybe the fire was extra stoked today the smaller pot is ready and they said because the liquid has dried up all of the fat has melted but then re-entered into the pork braised into itself that one they put into a pot so that can sit for later um and then the big pot is still cooking is still braising they say it needs to the water needs to evaporate out [Music] well that hat was really comfortable but i probably have some serious hat hair now uh but the curry is ready everybody just divvied out their own portion onto their bowl of rice uncle is even eating it with khanom jin uh rice noodles or we could call it kafsen here uh but then also come and eat with rice come and eat with noodles he said uncle said with the the gravy that curry sauce with the noodles it's really good as well okay so again here we go burmese curry burmese recipe and also this is a bit different from the northern thai other versions that i've seen in other parts of northern thailand just massive chunky pieces of pork some have the bones in like some of the ribs but most of it is pork belly ultra tender potatoes in there julians of ginger and every now and then you'll come up on some cloves of garlic that were tossed in i think the shallots have almost fully just dissolved into the curry the sauce is oily and condensed oh i cannot wait wow oh that is a beautiful thing all that flavor is amazing oh wow it just keeps on coming with the flavor the different layers the tenderness of that pork i think what's absolutely amazing is that the first taste that i taste is the masala but then after that you taste the tangy sweetness the balance of the the tamarind and ginger and garlic the boost of umami from the shrimp paste it's just like all the the great taste that your tongue could ever want all in one single ultra tender melt-in-your-mouth pork curry here's a bite you can see next uh with ginger with garlic with some of the melted shallots it has to be one of the most addictive curries because of the balance of flavor because of the the richness just the layering of flavors that is just sensational that is just a mind-blowing flavor the belly the skin the fat oh this one actually oh that's actually rib i believe that's what makes the pork so tender is when it's braised and cooked in its own liquid fat curry god [Music] now we've got some juiciness some curry juiciness [Laughter] oh wow okay the pork is melting your mouth but that gravy curry sauce is the highlight it could be bottled and sold as a beverage it's so [Music] good [Music] as you continue eating throughout your meal you just start to realize how rich and how heavy this curry is you're on turbo mode eating as fast as you can and then all of a sudden you're like well i need to slow down all of a sudden your bites are happening a little bit slower this is one of those dishes that literally on your last bite it's impossible to avoid a nap [Music] oh wow that was an unbelievable celebration meal yeah at this stage everybody is full everybody's happy most of us are taking to a more reclined uh horizontal position oh man and that's actually all you can do after eating gang hungley that was unbelievably spectacular and the original burmese version so incredibly tasty [Music] [Music] [Laughter] and then lastly the final step is all of the andes are packaging the curry to then distribute throughout the [Music] community [Music] then i would just like to say a huge thank you to all of the aunties for really sharing with us a piece apart an a part of the culture a part of the identity and their own hospitality and just knowledge and year after year of experience in making lay and cooking and just incredible hospitality amazing aunties and uncles and the entire community of mongbon they are truly the all-star team [Applause] oh yes it is definitely hammock time that is gonna wrap up for sure what is the best gang hung lei that i've ever had and it was such a huge educational it was a learning experience for me every i can guarantee you that every time that i eat gang hung lei within northern thailand anywhere throughout thailand i will remember this experience so again a massive thank you to all of the aunties and the uncles and the entire community who came out to help uh and to share a piece of family and cultural history and culture with us and a big thank you also to kunpuy who is the owner of this house and her family who arranged this uh and who made this entire experience possible definitely if you're in hong kong and you want to learn about the shan culture this is an amazing village an amazing place to come you can check them out a link will be in the description box and i want to say a big thank you to you for watching this video please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it leave a comment below i'd love to hear from you and if you're not already subscribed click subscribe and also click the little bell icon so you'll immediately get notified of the next video that i publish thanks again for watching and i will see you on the next video goodbye from me hong

Channel: Mark Wiens

Views: 1,131,907

Keywords: แม่ฮ่องสอน, Mae Hong Son, Thailand, Burmese food, Burmese curry, gaeng hang lay, ไทใหญ่, Thai Yai, Shan, Shan people, แกงฮังเล, Muang Pon village, things to do in Mae Hong Son, Burmese cuisine, best Burmese food, Thai food, village food, village cooking, masala, curry

Id: dy4UB5KFTIE

Length: 28min 34sec (1714 seconds)

Published: Sat May 15 2021