Mohinga is a rice noodle and fish soup that hails from Myanmar and is a staple of Burmese cuisine. It is widely regarded as the country's national dish. Mohinga is readily available throughout the country, with street hawkers and roadside stalls selling it in major cities. Mohinga is traditionally consumed for breakfast, although it is now consumed at any time of the day. The earliest reference to Mohinga can be seen in the poet U Ponnya's alinga verse poem from the Konbaung dynasty. Mohinga was most likely a commoner's dish during pre-colonial times, according to Burmese history researcher Khin Maung Nyunt, because no formal recipe for mohinga has been found in royal archives or cookbooks. A poet named U Min wrote about mohinga in the latter half of Bagyidaw's reign, using the word "mont di." While the term "mont di" is now frequently used to refer to a different type of rice vermicelli dish, a small minority still refers to mohinga as "mont ti." Mohinga is known as "mont" or "mont hin" in different parts of the country. Gram flour and/or crushed toasted rice, garlic, shallots or onions, lemongrass, ginger, fish paste, fish sauce, and catfish are the major ingredients in mohinga (or other types of fishes, such as Mrigal carp). The ingredients are mixed together in a thick broth that is simmered and kept warm. Mohinga is served with rice vermicelli dressed and garnished with fish sauce, a squeeze of lime, crisp fried onions, coriander, spring onions, crushed dried chillis, and deep-fried Burmese fritters such as split chickpeas, urad dal, gourd, sliced pieces of Chinese doughnuts, as well as a boiled egg and fried ngapi fish cake as optional toppings. In Burmese, mohinga is served with Chinese soup spoons known as mohinga zun.
Mohinga is a popular Myanmar breakfast that can be found as an "all-day breakfast" in many towns and cities. Mohinga can be served as a formal dish created from scratch or from a ready-made powder. It was previously exclusively available in the early morning and at night at street pwès (open-air stage performances), zat pwès (open-air dance performances), or theatres. Mohinga is commonly sold by street hawkers, who carry a soup cauldron on one side of a shoulder pole and rice vermicelli and other ingredients, as well as cups and utensils, on the other. In the 1960s, trishaw peddlers began to appear, and some of them set up pavement stalls where mohinga could be served all day.
Authentic mohinga is made with river catfish, fermented vermicelli noodles, banana tree stalk, boiled vegetables, onions, and turmeric, which gives it a muddy orange tint. Burmese cooking prioritises a balance of sweet and sour, salty and spicy flavours hence, the mohinga fits this profile. Chickpea fritters, lime, eggs, shallots, and chilli are optional, although the meal lives up to its nickname of "burn throat, burn tongue" even without ingredients. The flavours of mohinga differ depending on where it's made. "Country style" mohinga emphasises fish, garlic, and pepper, whereas "city-style" mohinga includes ginger and lemongrass, as well as peppers fried in sizzling oil.