Chp 773. How to make Sanpiau

Ok so here is a short blog update on how to make Sanpiau, a very popular Mizo delicacy.

Although Sanpiau is extremely popular across Mizoram, the original recipe came from a type of Burmese Congee called "Hysan byok", where "hysan" means rice and "byok" means boiled in Burmese. And as the dish started spreading across Mizoram, "Hysan byok" came to be known as "San Peuh" and eventually, "Sanpiau" (the word sanpiau has no meaning in Mizo).

If you search on Google for "Sanpiau", you'll see that most of the search result tells you to add boiled eggs or scrambled eggs to it. Actually, no! A typical Mizo Sanpiau isn't served with eggs, so please ignore those instructions!

Here is how you can easily make authentic Sanpiau at home. I took the trouble of asking my neighbour and close friend Siami here in Koregaon Park, Pune, to make our original Mizo Sanpiau so I could document it for my blog.

1. First up - the base. Rice porridge.

When I cook rice, I normally add 2 and a half cups of water to 1 cup of rice. That way, the rice turns out perfect. However, if you're making Sanpiau, it has to be in a porridge form, so add around a litre of water to 1 cup of rice.

Also add half tbsp of Ajinomoto and 1 tbsp of "Knorr Chicken seasoning powder" to give it a good umami flavour. Cook them all together in a Pressure Cooker and the base is ready.

2. Chilli chutney - Grind hot Mizo chillies or even Naga King Chillies with onions. Simple.

3. Coriander (dhania) - Wash and chop them into small pieces.

4. Sanpiau wafers / crispy papad.

You can buy these from many shops in Mizoram. Otherwise feel free to use any other ready-made wafers, as long as they don't have a heavy flavour (like masala flavour or mint flavour etc as that will divert your sensory taste from the actual flavour of the dish).

5. The meat - People usually use chicken or beef as the meat.

The meat is usually fried dry and not with gravy. The crispier the meat, the tastier the dish.

6. The finishing touch - Once you have all the above ingredients ready:

a) Pour the rice porridge in a bowl

b) Add 1 tbsp of the spicy chilli chutney on top

c) Place around a handful of papad on top

d) Sprinkle the coriander on top

e) Add 1 tbsp of the fried meat on top

Very important to note - unlike other non-veg dishes, only very small amount of meat is included in a Sanpiau bowl. I don't know why, maybe probably to maintain the flavour of the porridge.

Once you have placed all the above ingredients as instructed, add a little bit of Salt, Black pepper, Soy sauce and Fish sauce on top. Thadaaaa, your Sanpiau is ready!

Much thanks to Siami for cooking the above Sanpiau for my blog update. It was super delicious.

I think one of the reasons why Sanpiau is so awesome and popular in our Mizo community is because, after you place all the above ingredients on the bowl, since the porridge is thick, the spices and condiments do not mix with each other, and so, depending on which part of the bowl you dip your spoon and scoop, you get different different flavours! Sooo good!

Hope you find this blog post useful. Cheers for now.