Mizo cuisine

Overview

Mizo cooking is similar to that of other parts of Northeast and North India. Rice, called chaw, is the main food, and meat is almost always included. Popular meats are fish, chicken, pork, and beef. Meals are generally mild, with less oil and many vegetables, though younger people often prefer spicy, fried dishes and foods from other cultures.

A common dish is bai, a boiled vegetable stew made with bekang (fermented soybeans) or sa-um (fermented pork), served with rice. Another is sawhchiar, rice cooked with beef, pork, or chicken. Curry is known as hme.

Dishes

The staple food of most Mizo people is rice, with meat and vegetables served on the side. Bai is a combination of herbs cooked with string beans and edible ferns. Rep is smoked meat mixed with chilies, local herbs and fresh leafy greens. Chhum han consists of mixed steamed vegetables.

Hmarcha rawt is a tangy and spicy chili chutney. Dal is also eaten. Bekang is fermented soya beans similar to Japanese nattō. Lunch in a Mizo home varies; it can include biscuits, noodles, or chhangban (a snack from finely ground sticky rice) often accompanied by kurtai (jaggery) and tea.

Other lunch items include sanpiau (rice porridge with meat and spices), artui chhipchhuan chow (sunny-side-up fried egg with noodles), alu chop, sawhchiar, bekang-um, sa-um, chhi-um (fermented sesame seeds), ai-um (fermented crabs with crushed sesame seeds), aite-um (fermented whole crab), tam-um (fermented mustard leaves), tuai-um (fermented bamboo shoots), zupui, zufâng (sweet rice beer), tin-zu (strong undistilled rice beer), and rakzu (strong distilled rice beer).