Sanpiau is another comfort food that is found in all cultures across borders. It is essentially a rice congee from the northeastern state of Mizoram. This preparation uses an ethnic form of rice that is so delicate that it is almost edible once it is soaked. This rice is traditionally slow-cooked with country chicken.
Chef Ankur Chakraborty said, “However, we use fresh chicken from local UAE farms. In the slow cooking, we add flavorful herbs from the region, like lemongrass and ethnic ginger, which looks like galangal but is more ginger.”
He added, “While we were training for the restaurant, some of our team members who hail from Myanmar came across this dish and said it is also called Sanpiao in their native country. The idea of crossing goes beyond borders. The state of Mizoram touches China on the north, Myanmar on the east, and Southeast Asia on the south. In fact, historically, Myanmar was called Burma, a very important port of trade and a very important city of trade called Rangoon. All of this was one big sub-continental India presently separated by political borders. Food knows no borders, and it is represented so well in this dish.”
Here is an exclusive recipe by Chef Ankur Chakraborty.
