Combine ingredients in rice cooker and stir.

Add water or milk as needed to cover the raw rice by 3/4 of an inch.

Turn on rice cooker and cook.

Serves 4-6.

Burmese curries are milder than Thai and Indian varieties, don't rely on a "curry powder" mixture and aren't always built around coconut milk Loo said. Rather, her standard ingredients are turmeric and cumin, with chilies, garlic and shrimp powder making frequent appearances. When chilies are called for, Loo's preference is for the long, skinny, twisted-looking Thai chilies, green or red. Split the chilies open, seed them, mince finely. You can also use chili sauces or chili pastes.

Fish sauce is a common ingredient in Burmese cooking, often added at the end of cooking to bring up flavors. Loo prefers nam pla or nuoc mam-type Southeast Asian fish sauces, not Filipino patis, which she finds too strong.

Dried shrimp ground to a paste is a standard Burmese ingredient. Pick over dried shrimp and grind in food processor or blender. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

KHYETHA HIN (BURMESE CHICKEN CURRY)

Heat oil in deep pan or Dutch oven.

Gently fry onion, garlic, ginger and tomatoes, until onions are limp and translucent. Add chicken and turmeric, fry briefly, then add water just to cover chicken and simmer gently over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes.

Add potatoes, ground shrimp, chili peppers and lemon peel and more water if needed to prevent sticking; simmer for a few more more minutes, until chicken and potatoes are cooked through.

Add salt and fish sauce to taste. Hold until ready to serve, then add Chinese parsley to taste and serve hot over coconut rice.

Serves 4.

(Thicken the juices with a cornstarch slurry if you like a thicker curry, or allow it to cook down until it is a semi-dry dish.)

Like shoyu and chili pepper water on Island tables, balachaung (ba-la-chowng) is always somewhere nearby when Burmese sit down to eat. A common comfort food is steamed rice topped with a small but powerful bit of balachaung. It's a spicy, salty, sweet and tart mixture based on fried onions and spices slowly cooked in oil — not at all hard to make.

BALACHAUNG (CLASSIC BURMESE CONDIMENT)

Heat oil in deep pan or Dutch oven. Add sliced onion and garlic.

Cook over medium heat until onions and garlic become transparent and caramelize to a light brown. Add ground dried shrimp, sugar and chilies.

Stir thoroughly and fry over medium to low heat until semi-crisp. Be careful not to burn.

Add fish sauce to taste.

Store in refrigerator. Sauce is used atop hot steamed rice (just a teaspoon or so), with vegetables or hot dishes as a relish.

Here's the Burmese national dish: a fish soup served over thin rice noodles. Don't be daunted by the long ingredient list; the soup goes together quite quickly. For ease of preparation, Loo likes to cook the somen noodles in advance, stop the cooking with cold water and then reheat the noodles quickly in the microwave just before serving. To smash ginger, garlic and lemongrass, hit sharply with the side of a heavy Chinese cleaver or similar tool. For the boiled and mashed garbanzos, you can use a blend of garbanzo flour and water, or drained canned garbanzos mashed with a fork or in the food processor.

MOHINGA

Heat oil in large soup pot.

Fry ginger, garlic, onions, chili peppers, turmeric and ground black pepper.

Remove mackerel from can and break apart; add fish with juices. Add smashed lemongrass, garbanzo beans and enough water to cover. Boil and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring often. The soup base should be medium-thick — neither watery nor as thick as mashed potatoes.

Taste and add fish sauce.

Place the cooked rice noodles in bowls and add a generous scoop of fish soup. Eat the soup with a squeeze or two of lemon juice and garnish as desired with sliced boiled eggs, fish sauce and Chinese parsley.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.