On this week’s Cheap Eats segment for Dubai 92, Farida takes us to Kyay (pronounced chay) Oh Master hidden away in a side street off Rigga Road for a taste of Myanmar’s unofficial national dish – Mohinga.
What’s This Week’s Cheap Eat?
Traditionally had for breakfast, Mohinga is an aromatic fish-based soup infused with turmeric, ginger, chili powder, lemongrass, and onions. The broth is poured over silky rice vermicelli noodles and the dish is garnished with crispy lentil/bean-based crackers and a soft-boiled egg. Fresh coriander leaves, chili flakes, and lime are served alongside to enable the diner to customize their bowl by adding in extra herby, spicy, and tangy flavors. Priced at AED 22, moreish Mohinga makes for the ideal Dubai winter comfort food.
You can find Kyay Oh Master on Google Maps here.
What Their Mohinga Looks Like
Tune In
For more details about our experience at Kyay Oh Master, listen to our segment on Dubai92 or read the transcript here.
Transcript
Nats:
It’s Dubai92, it’s the big breakfast. Nats here with you chatting to Farida from Frying Pan Adventures for this week’s dose of this. Right, I know you’re gonna have me salivating and starving before 10:00 A.M. What have you got for us this week where can we go and stuff our faces with, with something delicious?
Farida:
This week we’re not going too far from where I live which is again on Rigga Road, it’s within walking distance to Satbir Hotel and this restaurant, the way the server told me how to pronounce the name is Che-O-Master (written as Kyay Oh Master) and they specialize in Burmese cuisine, so Myanmar.
Nats:
Oh
Farida:
Now, and what I went there for was the unofficial national dish of Myanmar which is ‘Mohinga’. It is this rich, flavourful, umami fragrant fish soup with the slippery soft rice vermicelli noodles swimming in it. And the flavors, I mean, I could sense there was ginger, garlic, they’ve got some chili powder, turmeric in there as well. And then lemongrass, which makes for this perfect foil for that slightly fishy taste, it’s not overpowering so I was very pleased with that and then they added these bean crackers so think of it like a bean tempura.
Nats:
Yeah!
Farida: I’m thinking it was split peas and there was a boiled egg, and then they gave me a bowl of chopped coriander, a lime wedge, and chili powder which I was so grateful for. The broth itself is not very spicy so I doused it with chili powder, I squeezed some lime in there, added in the cilantro and the first sip I had of it, it was a hug from my tummy. It was just this rich, comforting feel that I just kept going back in for more pairing it with that crunchy cracker which surprisingly stayed crunchy to the end even though it was immersed in that broth.
Nats:
It kind of sounds like fish soup for the soul instead of chicken soup for the soul.
Farida:
Yeah!
Nats:
When you were talking about it and with the lemongrass and that kind of stuff and chucking in all the coriander… And the chilliness of it all, it reminded me of a pho and I’m sorry if I’ve mispronounced that. But that is the kind of like comfort that it was emoting for me.
Farida:
Yeah! No, absolutely right! Yes, I mean look, I think at 22 Dirhams, my heart, my soul, my tummy were very very happy.
Nats:
Oh yeah, with that price point they would be. And as we go into our wintery months, a little bowl of warm goodness is definitely what we’re after. Two points to make, confluence, great word that you used. Second, you almost lost me when you said fish soup and then you went saying Slippery something and I’m like you don’t want to say the word slippery and fish in the same sentence together.
Farida:
Hahaha, Fish together!
Nats:
But you’ve tied it back and brought it back with the vermicelli. Okay, so you won me back there.
Farida:
With the vermicelli, right?
Nats:
Yeah, when I’m feeling a bit more adventurous I’ll definitely give it a try. Can you tell us the name of the place again and the hotel where we can find it?
Farida:
The name of the place is Kyay Oh Master and it is within the Satbeer Hotel and apartments located on a corner of Rigga Road.
Nats:
Thank you so much, Farida, from Frying Pan Adventures as the winter months do approach, you should definitely try some of their food tours and she’ll inspire you some more on how to stuff your face.
Nats:
Have a great week.
Farida:
You too, Nats!
Find out where to find Manti-Meat Dumplings in Dubai here.
