Geographies of dried fish: Myanmar

Instructions

About this template

This is a template for submitting information for the “Geographies of dried fish” section of the DFM e-book.

Purpose of data collection

The upcoming DFM eBook will include a section titled “Geographies of dried fish” to capture the diversity of dried fish across DFM countries as a means of introducing our project while generating interest among non-specialist audiences. The section will include two-page summaries from each Research Team. These summaries altogether will support a reflection on how geography – along with other local factors – interacts with culture through the production and consumption of dried fish to create strong and inherent connections to places. This interaction between environment and culture will be at the centre of the concept of “sustainable gastronomy” that frames the launch of the eBook. "Geographies of Dried Fish" will have its own section in the book with each country contributions/ authors, and a synthesis.

Request

A short summary of approximately 1000 words from each Research Team by December 30, 2021. Please enter the requested information in the spaces in this form.

Form

(1) What are the main locally produced/consumed dried fish products? Insert images by selecting the "Insert" > "Images and Media" menu at the top of this page. If you have many images available, they may be uploaded separately through the “DFM image upload wizard”. Please use the country/team name as the category for each image upload. You may add rows to this table as necessary.

Local name	Description	Image
Nga-pi-kaung	Fermented fish paste. Whole fish or shrimp are salted and ground then sundried. Virtually every farm household keeps a one-year supply of nga-pi made in the dry season (November- December) from fish trapped in the flood plain, and especially in the ricefields that it works. Moreover, the inland fisheries of Burma have long been worked commercially, and nga-pi prepared from freshwater fish was an important commercial article in the trade between the Mon country and the Kingdom of Ava.	Nga-pi-kaung (whole fermented fish paste)

(2) Fill in the table below - only information about medium and large sized fish are requested here.

Product type		Main fish species used			Processing method
Product name	Local name	Common name(s)	Marine or freshwater?	Medium, or large sized fish?
Fermented fish paste	Nga-pi	Anchovy (Stolephorus spp.)	Marine	Small	Fermentation

For each of the following questions, please try to answer in a developed paragraph.

(3) How are these specific processing techniques suit/have been adapted to the prevailing local ecological and geographic conditions? (e.g., rice-fish intercropping in flood plains, fermentation practices that reflect distinct ecological features and biological rhythms)	The cultural ecology of small fish fermentation is specifically addressed by Ruddle [1], who argues that fish processing traditions are driven by availability of juvenile finfish and planktonic shrimp at sites of phytoplankton blooms associated with the coastal upswellings caused by monsoon winds. Ruddle suggests that the fermentation industry relies on "the tendency of the juveniles of the finfish species utilized to aggregate in vast shoals in shallow inshore marine and brackish estuarine waters for, feeding" [2].
(4) What is the culinary importance of dried fish products in local cuisines? Please include the key preparation methods as appropriate.
(5) What is the socio-cultural significance of these products (e.g., festivals, traditions, local norms/beliefs, place-based identities)?
(6) What are the specific ways that people involved in processing dried fish (e.g., gender groups, caste groups, disadvantaged populations) make place-based connections through their work?
(7) OTHER: Please feel free to include any additional information to best represent the profile of dried fish in your country/sub-country area of focus.