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Saffron 59 Catering is New York City's premier caterer and event planner specializing in Southeast Asian cuisine. For over 11 years, Saffron 59 has successfully orchestrated memorable affairs with attention to every detail.

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Filtering by Category: "thingyan"

Holiday: Water Festival, Biggest Water Fight of the Year!

Irene Khin Wong

Did you know that every year around April, there’s a different New Year’s celebration known as The Water Festival?  Southeast Asian countries such as Burma, Cambodia, Laos, India, Thailand as well as Yunnan, China celebrate this multi-day holiday.  In Burma, (where I’m from) the New Year’s celebration is called Thingyan; for Thailand, Songkran; for Cambodia, Chaul Chnam Thmey.  Depending on which country they’re from the festival dates vary, but they all have one thing in common-The Water Festival.


water festival with Saveur Magazine in April
  Irene Being Doused with Water in Her Home Town

Everyone take part in the festivities with traditional water-throwing activities; going to pagodas or temples for worship and blessings; and sharing communal meals. Water is a symbol of not only cleanliness but also auspiciousness.  A belief that the celebration of the
water festival will wash away evils and sins accumulated in the old one and prepare for the new one, bringing the people into a happy and peaceful new year.


Burmese Water Festival
   Water Festival - Yangon, Myanmar

No one is safe from a good drenching since this occurs during one of the hottest time of the year!  In their celebratory moods, strangers will splash or pour water at each other.  Also, during this time of the year, one of the activities will be the cooking of vast amounts of sticky rice with roasted coconut and toasted sesame over an open fire.  It is a strenuous task where the sticky rice must be soaked over night and the ingredients has to be stirred continuously.  It is a community affair; where all the people in the village will get pitch in and make offerings to monks and visitors alike. 

Thingyan Water Festival: Time to Purify

Irene Khin Wong


Happy Thingyan! Wash it all out, may the water clean all bad spirits within us and bring peace, prosperity for whole year!

People in Myanmar, also Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, celebrate Thingyan Water Festival every month of Tagu, which means the first month of the 12 months of Myanmar Calendar. I remember the streets are full of people pouring and sprinkling water on each other to purify the bad, evil spirits. Young and old, man and woman, everyone is out to celebrate the Water Festival and welcome the new year in hope of prosperity and happiness to come.

This time of year, I celebrate Thingyan Festival with Ginger Salad, it is one of my favorite, fresh and tasty salad from Burma...
Burmese Ginger Salad (Jin Thoke)
SERVES 4
Some recipes for this salad call for bottled pickled sliced ginger, but the homemade version tastes much fresher. Although it takes two days to make, little hands-on effort is required. We recommend using young ginger, which has very thin, delicate skin and is more succulent than mature ginger. Young ginger is easiest to find in markets during the spring; if it's not available, use the smaller knobs of only very fresh, plump mature ginger.

3" piece young ginger, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
Salt
Juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp. channa dal (hulled split dried small chickpeas)
1⁄2 cup peanut oil
10 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

1⁄2 tsp. fish saucehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/saffron59/
1⁄4 cup peeled, roasted, unsalted peanuts
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
4 green bird's-eye chiles, stemmed

1. Toss ginger and 1 tsp. salt together in a medium glass or ceramic bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 24 hours, stirring every 8 hours. Rinse ginger, drain well, and put into a clean glass or ceramic bowl. Add lime juice and mix with your fingers until ginger is well coated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours, stirring every 8 hours. Soak chickpeas in a small bowl of water for 8 hours.
2. Drain ginger, then slice into long thin strips. Put ginger into a clean medium glass or ceramic bowl and set aside. Drain chickpeas, thoroughly dry with paper towels, and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok or a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and fry, stirring constantly with a slotted spoon, until lightly golden and crisp, 6–8 minutes. Transfer shallots with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Fry garlic in the hot oil, stirring constantly, until just beginning to turn golden around the edges, 1–2 minutes, then transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry chickpeas in the hot oil, stirring constantly, until golden, 4–5 minutes, then transfer to paper towels to drain, setting wok with oil aside. Set shallots, ginger, and chickpeas aside separately to cool completely.
4. Add fish sauce, peanuts, sesame seeds, and fresh chiles to bowl with ginger. Add fried shallots, garlic, and chickpeas and 2 tsp. of the frying oil, season to taste with salt, and toss well. Adjust seasonings. Serve at room temperature.