One of my many favorite places to eat in Yangon, Burma, is an excellent fresh Burmese salad bar across the street next to Sule Pagoda. It opens in the evenings when parking spaces are empty, overflowing from the sidewalk, and crossing the street.

This place is famous in Burma for the best handmade rice salad in Rangoon and probably the world. It’s the Golden Hand Tossed salad bar.

On the street there are low plastic tables and stools full of satisfied customers. At the far end of the sidewalk are a couple of tables lined up. On these tables jars of different ingredients are placed on a shelf. Behind the table, laughing and chatting, charming Burmese ladies with long, delicate fingers prepare the salad to taste.

I pull up a tiny stool, knees around my ears, and look at the menu on the low table. Pickled Tea Salad, Pickled Rice Salad, Pickled Ginger Salad … I don’t even bother to read anymore, I know what I want. A young man with a Longyi pulled up and tucked in the back it comes bouncing and I order rice salad.

Friendly Burmese faces are around me smiling happily because a foreigner is enjoying their favorite food with them. I’m trying to get a good look at what’s going on behind the bottles of crispy fried garlic, turmeric garlic oil, sliced ​​onions, chopped cilantro, sliced ​​tomatoes, MSG, salt, powdered beans, sesame seeds, peanuts, and a variety of sliced ​​vegetables. The slender fingers quickly dive in and out of the jars, sometimes floating for half a second before changing direction, reminding me of a hummingbird you only glimpse when you least expect it.

And when all the ingredients are gathered in one place, the light fingers begin to mix and twist, shaking and sometimes squeezing very lightly until the flavors and textures blend, blend, and explode into an unsurpassed flavor combination.

Suddenly, there is a small bowl on the table in front of me with a small spoon tucked into the side. I’m about to join the tea party. My saliva enzymes are already well prepared and I try hard.

Just as I remembered and more.

Completely unforgettable. With the golden stupa of Sule Pagoda shimmering in the background and my mouth full of personally touched rice salad, I am pleased.

From the table next to me, a respectful-looking middle-aged businessman leans over to ask me where I am from. When I answer America, she is happy and welcomes me to Myanmar. I tell him that I have been dreaming about this salad since I was last in Myanmar. He tells me

“The secret is in the chef’s fingers.“

When I first tried Burmese salads, I was simply captivated by the freshness and flavor of them. As I learned more about how healthy traditional diets are, I began to realize how sophisticated these salads are. Salads from all over Myanmar contain sesame seeds or peanuts, which are a good protein supplement to rice. They also contain high amounts of good quality fats and calcium. Infusing oil (usually peanut oil) with turmeric and garlic and keeping it on hand to use in dressings adds powerful antioxidants and antimicrobial powers to salads. Some salads include small, pink, dried shrimp, which are very rich in protein and nutrients necessary for growth and reproduction.

Burmese only use the freshest ingredients and mix them lightly at the last possible minute with the chef’s quick touch. The ending is the flourish of your hand as the salad is placed before you.

And all you have to do is enjoy it.