Mimi’s Aye’s effervescent observations about food have gained her a large following online and her new recipe book tells wonderful tales of a childhood spent between Burma and Kent. She’s been shadowed by by the ‘Military Informer’ on family holidays in Burma, is conflicted by seeing people flying over pagodas in hot air balloons and loves nothing more than exploring Japanese life and food and blasting out a bit of late night Karaoke. I’m delighted to have popped around to Mimi Aye’s house for a chat and I’m sure you’re going to love her just as much as I did.

On this episode we cover:

How to become a food writer

Making fun of Masterchef

Attracting a big social media following

Cooking with Mat Follas Masterchef

Chefs’ long hours

Giles Coren seems to have a few quid (listen to him HERE on this podcast)

Her book new Mandalay: Recipes and Tales of a Burmese Kitchen

Being a Burmese stowaway

Her parents arriving from Burma on Burmese Independence Day

Being discouraged by school to speak their own language at home

Holidays to Burma as a child

Growing up as brown person in Margate in Kent

Kent being the centre of UKIP

Getting BNP leaflets through the door

Leaving Burma ‘before Dad was stuck in prison’

Her mother selling all her jewellery

Friends and family members who don’t keep their heads down

Being shadowed by the MI (Military Informer) on family holidays

Having a slightly conflicted relationship with Burma

Feeling like you had to behave

Not wanting to be on a ‘no fly list’

Having her Burmese passport confiscated

Being a wrench having to choose to be just British

Lisa’s Fiji-Indian Dad not teaching any her any Hindi

Was there an open policy in the 80s to discourage immigrants from speaking their own language

How some immigrants integrate/don’t integrate

Being comfortable in a sarong

‘Burma’ versus ‘Myanmar’

The beautiful temples and landscapes of South East Asia

The ancient city of Bagan in the Mandalay Region

The Pagoda or the Buddha should be the highest thing in the house

People flying over pagodas in balloons

The thing with Thailand about point feet at people

Being in a shoes off situation

Angkor Wat in Cambodia

Lisa loving Jim Thompson’s House in Bangkok

Jim Thompson travelling (pillaging…?) South East Asia

Lisa developing a weird thing about wind chimes

Feeling guilty going to South East Asia if not Burma

Hiring a mini bus for all the family members to explore

The huge golden rock in the shape of the Buddha’s head need Yangon

Having a jolly in temple

Lisa feeling homesick when she veers too far from her hometown in Spain

(despite having travelled the world)

Finding Japan is the perfect family holiday

Never having had a bad meal in Japan

Occasional identified foodstuffs that it’s best not to ask about

Japan’s obsession with seasonal food

Fruit flavoured Kit Kats

Food between a very important element of travel

Malaysia versus Bali

The incredible food in Vietnam

Lisa’s favourite town in the world being Hoi An in Vietnam

…a 16th century Chinese fishing village

Lisa developing an obsession with wind chimes

Her cook book being almost like a diary of Burma

Her most memorable meal in Burma

Sexy tofu

The Burmese restaurants she would recommended (both London):

Lahpet in Shoreditch with great food and cocktails

Mandalay Golden Myanmar in Kilburn

Kids on bikes blasting out Bon Jovi in Mandalay

And blasting out Alanis Morissette at Karaoke in Japan