Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Shan Noodles (Shan Khauk Swe)
Soft rice noodles tossed with a savoury tomato-chicken sauce and topped with crushed peanuts, pickled mustard greens, and herbs, from Myanmar's Shan State.
Burmese (Shan) · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 25 min
~567 cal · 41g protein · 36g carbs · 29g fat · 6g fiber · 6g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Shan noodles, or Shan khauk swe, come from the eastern hills of Shan State and are one of Myanmar's best-loved noodle dishes, eaten far beyond the region and especially around Mandalay. Soft rice noodles are tossed with a savoury, lightly oily tomato-and-chicken sauce, then crowned with crushed peanuts, chopped pickled mustard greens, , and coriander.
Shan cooking tends to use less oil than lowland Burmese food and leans on tomato and soybean for depth. The dish comes in two forms that eaters choose between: the dry (a hsat) style shown here, served with a small bowl of clear broth on the side to sip, and a soupy version with the same toppings in a light broth.
The eastern location of Shan State, bordering China, Laos, and Thailand, shows in the dish, and versions of it turn up across those borders. It is teashop and market food, eaten as a full meal or a snack.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 lb chicken, finely chopped
12 oz flat or thin rice noodles
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece ginger, minced
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp
1/3 cup roasted peanuts, crushed
1/2 cup pickled mustard greens, chopped
3 , sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
1
Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the onion, garlic, and ginger with the paprika and turmeric for about 5 minutes until soft.
2
Add the chicken (or mushrooms) and cook, breaking it up, until it changes colour.
3
Add the tomatoes and cook down over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes until thick and jammy, then season with the soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar.
✎ Chef’s note
Cook the tomato sauce right down until glossy and jammy; a watery sauce slides off the noodles instead of coating them.
4
Cook the rice noodles until just tender, drain, and toss with a little oil so they do not stick.
5
Divide the noodles among bowls and spoon the tomato-chicken sauce over each.
6
Top with the crushed peanuts (or sunflower seeds), pickled mustard greens, scallions, and cilantro, and toss together before eating.
✎ Chef’s note
Serve with a small bowl of hot clear broth on the side to sip, the traditional dry (a hsat) way.
Shan State teashop cooking of Myanmar.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Yangon. Burmese seasoning runs on things that are neither raw nor freshly cooked. Laphet is tea leaf fermented and eaten as a salad with fried beans and garlic, ngapi is fish or shrimp paste behind nearly everything savoury, and oil is used deliberately, left floating clear on top of a curry as the sign it is finished.
🗺️
Myanmar. Mohinga is breakfast, sold from carts before dawn: a broth built on catfish and the pith of a banana stem, thickened with toasted rice or chickpea flour, poured over rice noodles and finished with crisp fritters, boiled egg and lime. Underneath most Burmese cooking is ngapi, fermented fish or shrimp paste, which supplies the salt and the depth.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Myanmar
MohingaMyanmar’s national breakfast: rice noodles in a lemongrass-catfish broth thickened with toasted chickpea flour.
Burmese Chicken CurryChicken slow-cooked in an oil-rich onion, garlic, ginger, and turmeric masala until deeply savory.
Lahpet ThokeA tea-leaf salad of fermented tea, crunchy fried beans, nuts, and seeds tossed with cabbage and lime, Myanmar's national treasure.
Browse all Myanmar recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan.
Storing it: Best fresh. Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated; loosen with a splash of water or oil as you reheat so they do not clump.
Make it a Myanmar meal
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Burmese Chicken CurryDinner
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Shan Noodles (Shan Khauk Swe)?
Soft rice noodles tossed with a savoury tomato-chicken sauce and topped with crushed peanuts, pickled mustard greens, and herbs, from Myanmar's Shan State.
Where does Shan Noodles (Shan Khauk Swe) come from?
Shan Noodles (Shan Khauk Swe) is a Burmese (Shan) dish from Yangon, Myanmar.
Can Shan Noodles (Shan Khauk Swe) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Shan Noodles (Shan Khauk Swe) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Shan Noodles (Shan Khauk Swe) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Shan Noodles (Shan Khauk Swe) take to make?
About 45 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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