Vegan Around Inle Lake Myanmar + Sev Recipe

This post is continued from Vegan in Nyaungshwe with Strangers.

Waiting for our boat to collect us for the day

The next day I woke up in Nyaungshwe (Northern Burma) bright and early to spend the day in a boat. Inle Lake supports a strong workforce of both fisherman and artisan craft workers. The latter put their skills to use in stilt raised workshops along the edges of the lake, where employees always show up to work at precisely the same time a tourist boat docks.

That fisherman scooted up to our boat and awkwardly hung out for ten minutes

There is a jumping cat monastery on the lake (along with a host of restaurants and budding tourist attractions). I'd already spent most of my time on the lake seeking out cats as I do everywhere, so when we landed at this place I was beside myself like it was Christmas, my birthday, and whatever it is that people celebrate all rolled into one. Only times a million. I mean, I think. The only holiday I've celebrated as grown up is Eurovision, and I couldn't even be bothered with that the last couple of years. Basically I just celebrate cats.

Jumping Cat Monastary, Inle Lake

Now that I've discussed cats, it's time for lunch. Our boat captain person drove us to some tables on stilts for lunch (okay, it was a little more elaborate than that – there was a platform and also a cat), where I had my first green tomato salad in Myanmar. Tangy with lime and nutty with sesame and peanut, it didn't taste any different to Burmese red tomato salads (but it was pretty).

In Burma, “salad” is a word that translates to “mixed by hand” and preferably these dishes are a balance of hot, sour, and salty (as a foreigner, however, I found it necessary to ask for chillies) blended with sesame and/or peanut oil. Fish sauce is often a component, but the concept of vegetarian is well known so leaving it out is never an issue. Like everywhere else in Myanmar, being vegan around Inle Lake is not difficult.

Green tomato salad, green bean salad, stir fried vegetables

Most menus have a section of various stir fried vegetables, which are fine as salty fillers with rice, but nothing to write home about.

My boat friend ordered the green bean salad, which like most Burmese salads featured a similar dressing but with a variation in texture. The tomato salad was light and soft, the bean salad crunchy and firm. Both equally delicious.

Who wants to see another picture of a cat?

Relaxing at a silver workshop

Nyaungshwe has more to offer than the lake, including some excellent cycling excursions. One of them is a winery. Nothing about that could go wrong.

Yes, a winery. A place with wine. I'm not sure how such a warm climate manages it, but the sauvignon blanc was drinkable (piss dry, sour grapefruit) and the pinot noir wasn't the worst I've had (cherry liquorice, though I prefer strawberry undertones). It's impossible to talk about wine without sounding like a tool.

Red Mountain Winery Crispy Tofu

There were no cats at the vineyard, but the menu did have some vegan friendly options. I'd just eaten a bowl of dirty noodles that tasted of fried and salt, but didn't want a completely food free table with the five empty glasses I had (it was only a tasting, I swear) so I ordered a light snack of crispy fried tofu.

Tofu in Myanmar rarely refers to soy bean curd, but rather to Shan tofu, a Burmese ingredient made from chickpea flour. Many eateries also sell a thin and crispy fried snack, crunchy like crisps, which tends to be served with ketchup and/or sweet chilli sauce. Often some will land on your table even when you don't request it, much like bread roll and oil might at an Italian restaurant.

I walked my bike up that dumb hill

I don't remember anything else, but let's head back to the lake since it's just so beautiful.

Sunset on Inle Lake. Seriously, that is real.