Ah Chin Yay Hin ~ Sour Soup
Ah Chin
Yay, also known as Ah Chin Yay Hin or Ah Chin Hin Yay, is a sour soup that
perfectly complements meat dishes by balancing out the richness of curries.
This tasty soup has a delectable combination of sweet, sour, and spicy flavours.
The name
of the soup comes from the words "Ah Chin," meaning sour, and
"Yay/Hin Yay/Yay Hin," meaning soup. Depending on the region or city,
the soup may have a different name. In our household, we call it Ah Chin Yay,
and when we say this, we automatically know it's made with Roselle Leaves (Chin
Poun Yaet). If the soup is made with Tamarind Leaves, we call it Ma Gyee Chin
Yay, and if it's made with Water Spinach, we call it Kan Soon Yaet Chin Yay. I apologize
for the confusion with all the names, so for simplicity, just call it Ah Chin
Yay or Sour Soup.
The recipe
I am sharing with you is Chin Poun Hin Yay (or) Ah Chin Yay ~ Roselle Leave
Soup.
Let’s get started!
Ingredients
230g of
Tomato (Cut in 4 Wedges per Tomato)
140g of
Okra/lady fingers
170g of
Eggplants (Cut in Wedges)
170g of
Bamboo Shoot
250g of
Roselle Leave
(If you
cannot find it, you can use Tamarind leaves in the can or water spinach.
However, frozen roselle leaves can be found at Thiekdi Win Burmese Mini Market
at 190 Willian Street, Beckenham WA 6107.)
20g of Pounded
Shrimp Paste (Burmese Brand is better 😊 you can also find it in Thiekdi
Win as well.)
76g or
half of Onion (Roughly Sliced)
5 Cloves
of Garlic (Smashed)
Seasoning –
Salt, White pepper and sugar
Other necessary
ingredients – Fish Sauce, Burmese jaggery, 1 tbsp of Tamarind Sauce
There will
be two cooking methods. One is when you are lazy, and don’t want to cook. 😊 Another one is Yeah-I-Can-Cook
Version.
YuMi’s Lazy
Method
Put all
the ingredients into the soup pot, along with seasoning and 1 tablespoon of
your preferred oil. Mix everything well with your gloved hand. Then pour 1 L of
water, depending on the size of your pot, and wait for it to boil. Add 1 piece
of jaggery, 1 tablespoon of tamarind sauce, and a few drops of fish sauce. Stir
well and continue cooking with the lid on for 10 to 15 minutes or until all the
vegetables are cooked well. Taste will be sweet, sour, and spicy at the same
time.
Yeah-I-Can-Cook
Method
Step 1 : Start
by heating 1 or 2 tablespoons of your preferred oil in a pot. Once heated, add
the onion and garlic and stir on medium heat. After stirring for about 30
seconds, add the bamboo shoot and shrimp paste to the pot. Although the shrimp
paste may have a strong smell, it is an essential ingredient for this dish and
cannot be omitted. Trust the process and let it cook in the soup.
Step 2 : Put the roselle leaves in a pot with 1 litre of water and bring it to a
boil. Then, add tomatoes, eggplants, and okra along with 1 tablespoon of
tamarind sauce, 1 Burmese jaggery, 2 drops of fish sauce and seasonings. Stir
everything together and cover the pot with a lid for 10 to 15 minutes, or until
there is no longer a raw vegetable smell.
Step 3 : If your soup
tastes too sour, you can add one more piece of jaggery or one teaspoon of sugar
to balance the flavour. The spicy taste in the soup comes from pounded shrimp
paste. However, if you only have regular shrimp paste, you can add a little bit
of chilli powder to make it spicy. Chilli is optional, so adjust the seasoning
according to your preference. Finally, add chopped coriander on top of the soup
and cover the lid without stirring it in. No more boiling 😊
Step 4 : Enjoy with any Burmese meat dish you cooked and some Balachaung or fried chilli with steamed jasmine rice.
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