Wet Tha Dote Htoe

Ingredients

Offal

• 500 gpork intestine, thoroughly cleaned
• 300 gpork liver
• 300 gpork heart
• 300 gpork stomach
• 200 gpork blood cake, optional
• 300 gpork belly

To clean

• coarse salt
• flour
• vinegar or lime

Broth

• 3 litreswater
• 1 headgarlic
• 5cm ginger, sliced
• 3star anise
• 1cinnamon stick
• 150 mldark soy sauce
• 100 mllight soy sauce
• 3 tbspsugar
• 1 tspwhite pepper
• salt

Dipping sauce

• 3 tbspchilli flakes in oil
• 2 tbsptamarind water
• 1 tbspfish sauce
• chopped coriander
• crushed garlic

Equipment

• bamboo skewers
• a deep pot

To serve

• picked from the pot, charged by the stick

Directions

1. Turn the intestine inside out and rinse it under running water repeatedly. Rub it hard with coarse salt and flour, inside and out.
2. Salt and flour together act as an abrasive and lift the film that water alone leaves behind. Repeat three or four times. Finish with a rinse in vinegar or lime water. Keep going until everything smells clean and neutral. Soak the liver in cold water or milk for 30 minutes, which draws out blood and softens the flavour.
3. Cover the offal with cold water, bring it to a boil, boil 10 minutes and discard that water entirely. Discarding the first water removes the scum and the strongest smell in one step, and skipping it means skimming for an hour instead.
4. Rinse everything, and the pot as well. Return the tougher pieces to a clean pot with fresh water, garlic, ginger, star anise and cinnamon. Add the soy sauces, sugar, pepper and salt.
5. Simmer the intestine, stomach and heart for about 1 hour 30 minutes. These are the tough ones and they need the time, and undercooked intestine is rubbery and unpleasant. Add the pork belly after 30 minutes. Now the liver, which is the one thing that must not be overcooked.
6. Add the liver for the last 10 to 15 minutes only. Liver toughens into something chalky and bitter if it simmers for an hour, and it needs the shortest cooking of anything in the pot.
7. Take it out as soon as it is just firm. Add the blood cake near the end as well, since it only needs heating through. Now the broth should be dark, glossy and deeply savoury. Taste it and adjust the soy and sugar. It should be salty, faintly sweet and aromatic with star anise, and it will only get better as the day goes on.
8. Cool the cooked offal slightly and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Thread three or four pieces onto each bamboo skewer. Skewer like with like, so each stick is one kind. Return the skewers to the pot and keep it at a bare simmer. Keep the pot at a gentle simmer rather than a boil, so nothing overcooks while it waits.
9. Mix chilli oil, tamarind water, fish sauce, garlic and coriander. Make it sharp and hot. Serve it in small individual dishes. Anyone unsure about offal can pick belly and blood cake sticks, and the pot always has milder options.

Technique

• Stalls charge by the stick and the used skewers are the bill.
• The broth is topped up rather than replaced and deepens through the day.
• The low plastic stools are a genuine feature of Yangon street eating.

Substitutions

• Pork belly and blood cake alone, for a milder version.
• Chicken offal, which some stalls also offer.

Variations

• With more blood cake, which is popular.
• With quail eggs added to the pot.
• Made milder, with less offal and more belly.

History

Yangon pavement stalls charge by the stick; the broth is never emptied, only topped up through the day.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wet Tha Dote Htoe?

Wet Tha Dote Htoe is a street food from Myanmar: pork offal skewers simmered in soy broth, picked from the pot and dipped. Yangon pavement stalls charge by the stick; the broth is never emptied, only topped up through the day.

How long does Wet Tha Dote Htoe take to make?

Wet Tha Dote Htoe takes 1 hr 30 min of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Wet Tha Dote Htoe?

Yes, within limits. Pork belly and blood cake alone, for a milder version. Chicken offal, which some stalls also offer.

What is the most important thing to get right in Wet Tha Dote Htoe?

Simmer the intestine, stomach and heart for about 1 hour 30 minutes. These are the tough ones and they need the time, and undercooked intestine is rubbery and unpleasant. Add the pork belly after 30 minutes. Now the liver, which is the one thing that must not be overcooked.