Burma Superstar: Addictive Recipes from the Crossroads of Southeast Asia [A Cookbook] by Desmond Tan and Kate Leahy

    • Categories: Curry; Egg dishes; Main course; Burmese
    • Ingredients: shallots; garlic; Thai chiles; turmeric; paprika; ground cayenne pepper; tomatoes; okara; fish sauce; hard-boiled eggs; cilantro
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Notes about this book

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Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Egg and okra curry

    • Dannausc on September 09, 2018

      Good and hearty

    • jenburkholder on August 27, 2020

      Tasty and comforting. We used green beans, as we don’t care for okra.

  • Simple fish curry

    • chawkins on August 14, 2017

      My husband enjoyed this, me, not so much. I am not much of a fish eater and I use catfish which I only like it when deep fried. I also used Chinese shrimp paste. There is a page reference for the shrimp paste, the page reference points to a page with general ingredient descriptions, but shrimp paste is missing.

    • Stephenn31 on June 29, 2024

      Very easy fish curry with balanced flavour. I added some lime juice at the end to balance. Also used canned tomatoes to avoid the chopping.

  • Tomato shrimp curry

    • Kduncan on January 08, 2019

      Pretty easy to make, not a lot of prep which is always nice. Overall though, I didn't enjoy this, though my SO did like it. I might have over added fish sauce, as I am very sensitive to it's taste.

    • craftycarmen on April 03, 2026

      This tastes better the next day, as the flavors meld together.

  • Coconut chicken curry

    • anya_sf on July 09, 2019

      I messed up and simmered the curry too long, so the chicken shredded on its own and the sauce reduced too much. Fortunately, I was able to rescue it by adding more water, although the flavors got a bit diluted. I stirred in some sliced red bell pepper and green beens at the end to make a one dish meal over rice. This curry has a lot of flavor for very little effort and should be made ahead, making it perfect for weeknights. The spice level can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the cayenne pepper (I decreased it). I'll definitely make this again and will set my timer next time.

  • Chicken dal curry

    • Stephenn31 on January 15, 2024

      Really tasty and a great way to use more pulses. I used red lentils instead of the spilt yellow peas and it was delicious

  • Pumpkin pork stew

    • anya_sf on January 18, 2022

      Fantastic flavor from relatively few ingredients. I used less oil since the pork was fairly fatty. The stew was pretty salty, so I only added 1 tsp fish sauce. I didn't use chiles so it wouldn't be spicy, but my husband and I added sriracha on our servings. I already want to make this again with the leftover squash.

    • meginyeg on October 20, 2022

      This was decent. I think the pumpkin probably could've just been cooked with the pork to save a step and pot.

  • Pumpkin tofu stew

    • jenburkholder on December 14, 2020

      Very tasty and cozy. Served with the pickled ginger salad - really does need something tart alongside, as otherwise this rather sweet curry would seem flat.

  • Pork curry with green mango pickle

    • MmeFleiss on May 27, 2017

      This was a tasty dish that's not overly complicated. My spice-averse mother's portion was before the addition of the curry powder, mango pickle, and garam masala and she said that was tasty, too.

    • katryna on February 08, 2026

      Added the optional potatoes since I do love having those in curries. My baby loved eating this!

  • Sour leaf with bamboo and shrimp

    • jenburkholder on August 27, 2020

      The other recipe for sour leaf in this book is better (sour leaf and fish soup). Make that instead.

  • Corn with charred onions

    • Dannausc on September 09, 2018

      Quick, easy, and tasty. Worth a repeat.

    • Stephenn31 on January 15, 2024

      Quick and easy side dish. I used frozen corn, defrosted before cooking

  • Fiery tofu

    • jenburkholder on August 26, 2020

      This was all right. Much plainer, though, than one would expect. We used a homemade sambal, so maybe that was part of the issue.

    • MmeFleiss on January 27, 2025

      I forgot to double check his preferred soy sauce and used a Thai brand instead of Kikkoman; unsurprisingly, my dish was undersalted. Even after I corrected that, though, I still found this kinda underwhelming. Not terrible or anything, but just won't be in a rush to repeat.

  • Garlic chile shrimp

    • mpo on October 21, 2022

      This has so much flavor and the garlic paste will be good on anything. If you make the paste in advance, dinner doesn’t even take 30 minutes to make. I added broccoli to veg it out a little.

  • Chicken with mint

    • anya_sf on June 08, 2017

      I used ground chicken breast. I'm sure hand-cut chicken would be better, but we liked it even with preground chicken. I also used yellow mustard seed instead of black, because that's what I had on hand. I increased the chopped herbs, which I would do again. I was making this a one-dish meal (served over rice), so I also added vegetables (in this case, some string beans, peas, and Asian greens). The whole garlic cloves were a nice idea, but I did not particularly notice them in the finished dish, although that could be because I added extra stuff. My husband and I loved it. The heat level was just right for us (our kid would never touch it though). Using preground chicken, it was super quick and easy to make.

    • Dannausc on September 09, 2018

      Fairly quick and easy. Pretty decent but makes really small portions.

  • Chicken with basil

    • meggan on November 27, 2019

      Served with noodles. Subbed edamame for snowpeas. Nothing spectacular but good weeknight meal.

  • Home-style chicken kebat

    • mpo on October 22, 2022

      Another good one from this cookbook! And also pretty easy too.

  • Chili lamb

    • HazukaPie on September 08, 2022

      Prepping the lamb for this dish is a bit of a pain - it is easily substituted for cubed cod or other fish (or meat) with slight cooking time adjustments and just as delicious.

  • Nan gyi thoke

    • katryna on February 08, 2026

      Nice way to have the coconut chicken curry leftovers in a new form.

  • Shan noodles

    • katryna on February 08, 2026

      Added lemon juice which made it even better. Was not sure I did a great job cooking the XL noodles but it turned out fine in the final dish. The chewiness threw me off but luckily I saw the cookbook then mentioned it being chewy when done. My meat to noodles ratio was off, will use less meat next time.

  • Garlic noodles

    • Dannausc on September 09, 2018

      Good and easy

  • Sour leaf soup

    • jenburkholder on August 26, 2020

      Excellent use of the sour leaf that we occasionally find at the farmer’s market. Tart, hot, and comforting, plus easy.

  • Ginger salad

    • jenburkholder on December 14, 2020

      This was very tasty, tart and refreshing. We omitted a few of the ingredients - no garlic chips, no sunflower seeds. You could definitely pick and choose what you had in the fridge. The fried split peas were particularly great, and I could see those going on other things. Ate with the pumpkin tofu curry and brown rice.

    • Stephenn31 on October 14, 2022

      Delicious, even if I didn’t have all the ingredients. Don’t go shy on the pickled ginger!

  • Samusa salad

    • Stephenn31 on October 05, 2025

      I was a bit disappointed with the dressing which was a bit flat given the herbs lime and tamarind. But nice and crunchy with lots of greens

  • Tea leaf dressing

    • Dannausc on September 09, 2018

      I rinsed the tea leaves four times. It turned out really good.

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Reviews about this book

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