Sabuti, A Burmese Traditional Food

I came across this stall at the restaurant opposite Pudu Plaza. A typical Chinese restourant selling typical Malaysian food, watan mee, porridge, pan mee, and etc. Then something caught me, some Burmese selling something call Sabuti. From far it look like porridge. When I get a closer look at it, it is soup, like the Indian ox tail or chicken soup. My curiosity tell me to try it. I sit down and order 1 portion. They serve with salt and MSG. An extra RM 1 you will get the fried beef with chili and onion, I warm you...is super hot..at least for my standard. After my first sip and I know why they serve the salt and MSG. The soup is plain, pretty plain in taste. One might enjoy it but not me. I prefer my soup to be a bit "spice". I added the salt and MSG and the soup taste better. Please note this is not a healthy way of eating soup. Don't try it too often :D

The ingredient inside the soup, beef and corn. Simple but filling and I can understand why the soup is plain in taste. I believe back in Burma, where food and resources are limit. You can only eat and cook on what you can get. Spice and salt is luxury to them..... I believe from nutrition point of view, this is a complete meal, you have water, protein from beef, vitamin and fiber from the corn and chili.

Sabuti RM5, with the fried beef and super hot chilies

The Restaurant near Pudu Plaza

I go back home and Google. I found this "Sabuti, a Chin soup consisting of yellow or red hominy corn and meat cooked in stock, sometimes thickened with lard, boned meat or other innards, goes well with various sorts of condiments including celery, coriander, spring onion, onion, garlic and ginger salad. Salt and hot ground chillies, green or dry, are the two main seasonings. Some people also use other flavour enhancers such as Ajinomoto's monosodium glutamate." [source]

The Burmese came a long way from home to get a living here at Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. People will always get homesickness. I guess this small stall here is able to make the Burmese felt a little bit like "home". Sabuti might not the best soup in town but I do enjoy it. I try it once and has been regularly, whenever I have the chances.




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