Monthinkhar Myanmar Traditional Fish Soup with Rice Noodles

This is a simplified version of the Myanmar most traditional dish. Imagine the full version. There are quite a lot of steps to this dish, which is the usual for most Myanmar dishes.

A broad overview: Boil fish, prepare base, boil soup, cook rice noodles, mix in condiments.

First boil / Cook the fish

1. Bring 1.5L of water to boil then simmer. Add 1 1/12 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of tumeric power, 2 sticks of smashed lemon grass sticks and the fish inside. You can also put the eggs inside to cook.
2. It will take about 15 mins to cook, depending on your fish size. Cook until the fish is soft and sweet.
3. After it is cooked, off the fire, and take the fish and eggs out to cool.

Prepare base

4. While the fish is being boiled, you can prepare all the ingredients needed for the base as above.
5. Traditionally, all the ingredients are pounded together by hand. But I used a food processor to blend the 2 bulbs of onions and pounded the rest of the ingredients: 8 cloves garlic, 1 thinly sliced stick of lemon grass, small slice of tumeric ginger (try not to put too much, taste is overpowering), 2 pieces dried chili, 13 pieces white pepper and 1/2 tsp tumeric powder. The 1/2 tsp of belachan doesn't need pounding.
6. Pour a lot of oil into a wok / frying pan, about enough to submerge all the onions. Bring it to medium heat.
7. Add all these ingredients in to fry including the belachan.
8. It will take about 15 to 20 mins to caramelise the onion and bring out the fragrance.
9. In the meantime, remove all the bones from the fish, and put the meat aside.
10. Add the fish meat into the base after the base is a little dry and smells very nice. Cook for about 3-5 mins more.

Prepare Soup

11. While you are frying the base, bring a pot of water to boil, about 3-4 L. Put 2 smashed lemon grass sticks, 8 bulbs of onion cut into quarters, 3 tsp of salt and a fistful of rice that has been pound into dust.
12. Add in the fried soup base from above once it is ready.
13. Boil for another hour.

Prepare Condiments

14. Put each condiment in a tiny saucer. Like Fish sauce.
15. Prepare the garlic oil by slicing garlic into thick slices, then slow frying it in oil until crunchy.
16. Prepare tamarind by soaking the tamarind in water, then filter it away and keep the liquid.
17. Cut and squeeze the lemon.
18. Peel the eggs and cut them into slices.

Cook rice noodles

19. Boil water and cook rice noodles as per instructions, then drain.

Mix

20. You can eat this dish dry or soup. Then mix in all the condiments as per your taste. And enjoy!