Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Soy and legumes from Myanmar

Naw hpu (Kachin fermented soybean)

Naw hpu is the fermented soybean of the Kachin highlands, recorded in Jinghpaw oral accounts. Well-cooked soybeans are wrapped in small bundles of round, hairy leaves and kept at the fireplace for five or six days until they ferment. The beans are then packed into bamboo tubes and kept above the fireplace for months, and eaten mixed with pounded ginger, chilli and salt.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Naw hpu itself.

DocumentedSoy and legumes8 days – 9 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold craft with no fixed amounts; one viss is a Myanmar weight unit.
Cooked soybeansabout one viss per bundleSmall bundles; large bundles are avoided[KK2-0022]
Nbang hpaw leavesRound, hairy leaves used for wrapping[KK2-0022]
Ginger, chilli and saltPounded and mixed into the fermented beans to serve[KK2-0022]

Total time across the recorded steps: 8 days – 9 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Soybeans cook until well done

Step 1 of 6
Cook the soybeans well
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: cooked beans.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
soft
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Naw hpu is the fermented soybean of the Kachin highlands, recorded in Jinghpaw oral accounts. Well-cooked soybeans are wrapped in small bundles of round, hairy leaves and kept at the fireplace for five or six days until they ferment. The beans are then packed into bamboo tubes and kept above the fireplace for months, and eaten mixed with pounded ginger, chilli and salt. Made in 6 steps over 8 days – 9 days. The longest step, ferment until ready and unwrap, takes 5–6 days (PARADISEC KK2-0022).

Key numbers
Main step5–6 daysReported[KK2-0022]Ferment until ready and unwrap

What makes this one different

Naw hpu is fermented in small bundles of hairy leaves at the fireplace and kept in bamboo tubes above the fireplace. Pè bok from Shan State is the better-studied Myanmar sticky soybean.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Naw yen (quick naw hpu)Chilli, ginger, a little Jinghpaw alcohol and salt are added to fermented beans, which are eaten after 2–3 days; the beans swell and are no longer sticky [KK1-0198].

Safety

Without salt the stored beans go off (turn bitter and smelly) over time [KK1-0198].

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [KK2-0022] PARADISEC KK2-0022, Naw hpu a lam (Fermented soy bean), with English translation by Rita Seng Mai, doi:10.26278/5FA2C5BF50209 (record read via Research Data Australia)archive
  2. [KK1-0198] PARADISEC KK1-0198, Nawhpu a lam (How to make fermented soybeans), with English translation by Gun Mai, doi:10.4225/72/59889196F316E (record read via Research Data Australia)archive