My take on Burmese venison noodles


On my trip around the culinary world, I decided to visit Burma, as I hadn't had the pleasure of trying any dishes from there before. When scanning the Pinterest jungle for ideas, I came across lots of curries or very saucy dishes, something that didn't suit the hot weather. I may have to return when the weather cools down for one of those meals, as they looked very nice. This time I was however after something fairly dry that I could serve with noodles.

Bingo! I stumbled over Burmese shan noodles, a recipe that featured chicken and it looked lovely. Never mind that I had venison to play with. Surely that could be swapped. The recipe called for 8 tomatoes, to be cooked until they turned mushy. As I only had 1 tomato, I figured a tin of chopped tomatoes would do nicely. While I was in swapping mode, I also decided to change the entire cooking process, because why not. Rather than cooking the meat in the mushy tomatoes and spices, I opted for leaving it in a marinade instead. The ingredients would be the same, but a marinade may be more suitable considering my choice of meat. Finally, I added a pepper and a handful of mushrooms and left the sugar out.

If you have read my blogs lately, you probably know that I have been under a recent naff-curse, during which even potentially nice meals have failed miserably. To lift the curse, I decided to stick to well tried and tested recipes for a while and gain my confidence back. Without a doubt I can cook and serve tasty food, but when one meal after another ends up naff, it is time to reboot. Bearing that in mind, I promptly picked a brand new recipe and altered it completely. Yes, that's exactly what I wasn't supposed to do, but I did and it worked.

When I dished up, the smell was lovely and rich, but I wasn't convinced by the look of the meal. The first bite was... fine. Mediocre, not naff, but not spectacular. Bugger with a bow! Another few bites and strangely enough it got better. By the end of the dinner, I was in love with it. This was a grower, not a shower (as is show-er, not the getting wet kind of shower). The flavours probably needed a bit of time to mature. Luckily I had cooked enough to have leftovers the following day and those were lovely from the start, having married and mingled in the fridge overnight.

Apparently shan noodles are Burmese rice noodles, which I didn't have. Instead I used ordinary egg noodles. They could be mixed with the meat, but to make it look a little bit fancy, I served them in the middle of a meat circle. As soon as the photo was taken, it was all mixed and devoured.

Thanks Burma for this recipe and for allowing me to play with it, turning it into something suitable for our family. I'll definitely make it again. One of these days I may make it the original way and with chicken, if only to find out what works best. Below I'm sharing my way of cooking this meal. Should you want to make the original dish, search for Burma: Shan noodles on Pinterest.


To make this meal, you need:
600 g venison, thinly sliced
2 bundles egg noodles
2 onions, chopped
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 pepper, sliced
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
3 tbsp soy sauce
chilli powder to taste
oil for frying



1. Get all ingredients out.


2. In a bowl or box, mix chopped tomatoes, soy sauce, tomato puree, chilli powder, 
ginger and 3 of the chopped garlic cloves. Save the other 3 for frying.


3. Slice the meat. 


4. Add the meat to the marinade and leave for as long as you like. 
I left my meat to marinate from breakfast to dinner time.


5. Chop and slice the remaining garlic cloves, onion, pepper and mushrooms.


6. Soften the onion and mushrooms in a little oil.


7. Add the pepper and garlic and fry until the pepper has softened as well.


8. Set the vegetables aside.


9. Fry the drained meat (save the marinade) in batches, a few minutes 
on each side until just done. Don't over crowd the pan. 


10. Set each batch aside until all meat is cooked. 
Put the noodles (or rice, if you prefer) on to cook.


11. Once all meat is cooked, add it back to the pan along with the vegetables and marinade.


12. Cook for a few minutes until warmed through. If you want less sauce, leave it to reduce a bit. 
I wanted mine gooey, but not saucy.


13. Dish up and enjoy. 

This would work really well with rice instead of noodles or with a broccoli. Mmmm... broccoli....



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