Shwe yin aye — in this typical bowl, a heap of agar jellies, sago and tapioca pearls, and sticky rice, waiting to be drenched in thinned, sweetened coconut milk — is invariably crowned with a sop of plain white bread.
Mine was from a plain-label loaf, but, in New York, as often as not it's from some widely advertised brand. Perhaps that commercial connection has colored my overall impression — when the bread it gone and the bowl is largely drained, shwe yin aye looks and tastes not unlike a Burmese version of cereal milk.
Previously: shrimp fritters arrived fashionably late and quickly drew a crowd. According to one of the two ladies ahead of me — not the lady holding the tickets, the lady whose shoulder intrudes at right — it's the reputation of this vendor's tangy, cucumber-y sauce that caused all the clamor. Also shown: my snipped-to-pieces, fully dressed fritter appears below; the mise en place for Shan-style rice, and the dish as served; jellied desserts colored and flavored by purple yams, golden and yellow sweet potatoes, and the dried blue flowers of butterfly peas; and a warm, palm-sugar-laced dessert soup.
National Humanitarian Fundraising for Myanmar Food Fair
Parish house of St. James Episcopal Church, 8407 Broadway (St. James-Corona Aves.), Elmhurst, Queens
www.Facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10219990466182967&set=a.4253519467207
(The autumn 2019 food fair was held on September 15)
