Born in Myanmar, Ei Ei San found herself yearning for a taste of home in Hong Kong; now, she shares her love for Burmese flavours with Burmese Apron
In Myanmar’s highland Kayin State, bordering southwest Thailand, Ei Ei San’s childhood was split between both sides of the Moei River borderline.
Born in a small town located to the west of the river, she studied English at a migrant learning centre for three years in the border town of Mae Sot to the east, operated by an international NGO providing free education to immigrant students from Myanmar.
Fortuitously, she earned a scholarship to study at the University of Hong Kong. Her ticket out of Myanmar and towards a future of promise became realised.
“Moving to Hong Kong, there was no Burmese restaurant in the city,” Ei San shares, almost lamenting a waning connection to her homeland at university, beyond a small network of Burmese students on campus.
Local representation of the Southeast Asian nation is lacking. Soho’s trendy Club Rangoon spent three years educating diners with a modern-meets-traditional menu until its untimely closure in 2023. HTIKE easy, opening in Yau Ma Tei in January 2025, remains the only Burmese restaurant to date. Its menu is also shared with popular Thai dishes.
“Whenever I missed home at university, I had to learn how to cook all the [Burmese dishes] that I loved as a child.” Socliazing with other Burmese students routinely meant cooking recipes from various regions across the country, “a way to connect to our roots.”
“[Cooking] was the best way for me to relay my identity and also tell my [non-Burmese] friends the complete picture of who I am as a person and my story.”
The then-research assistant Ei San created her Instagram page Burmese Apron in 2018 to record near-and-dear recipes for friends, such as ngapiye (fish paste dip with vegetables), mohinga (fish soup with rice noodles), shwe taung kout swe (coconut chicken curry), and nan gyi thoke (thick rice noodle salad).
When the 2021 military coup destabilised the country and set off protests and a civil war, Ei San brought Burmese Apron offline, organising a fundraiser dinner to raise funds for affected communities in the region.
“That is when I realised that this is not just about my story now,” but about the lives of Burmese people globally, “Food has become a way to tell the mass story of the country, its history, and the turmoil that we are experiencing right now.”
Beginning in 2023, Ei San launched themed dinner nights to support fundraising efforts during the civil war and the later 7.7 magnitude earthquake in 2025.
In April 2024, Ei San hosted Sichuan food-focussed author Fuchsia Dunlop for an intimate meal serving nga thalout paung (steamed Hilsa fish), wat kachin chet (Kachin pork curry), shan tohu nway (shan warm tofu noodles), and nga paung htoke (vegetables steamed in banana leaf).
Collaborations with condiment brand A Spark of Madness for a vegetarian dinner menu celebrating the Burmese and Indian full moon and light festivals of Thadingyut and Diwali, and a fundraiser for vulnerable communities alongside Alison Tan, founder of Savour Cinema followed.
In July of last year, Ei San and her husband-sous chef hosted a supper club at Brut!, sharing a set menu centered around stories of Myanmar, resilience, family, and love. 10% of proceeds went to funds supporting earthquake relief in the country.
“At our events and collaborative dinners, I have created menus that have similar textures and flavours that people in Hong Kong and Myanmar eat. The dishes popular here, like turnip cake, I grew up eating,” Ei San shares.
“I tend to not take away the bold flavours with Burmese cooking, because I worry that people would not like it. When people join our events, this is a chance to get people exposed to these fun flavours that they have never experienced before, not just mohinga and laphet, the two main dishes people are familiar with.”
With every meal hosted, be that a restaurant pop-up or inside someone’s home, Ei San is careful to include dishes from all four corners of the country. “Burmese food is not just one entity,” she tells.
Myanmar has remained almost completely unknown to Hong Kong diners, contrasted with the vogueness of Chinese, Indian, and Thai cuisines flanking it. “When I say I am from Myanmar, people may not know anything about the country; when people hear Burmese food, they may not even be able to bring one dish to their mind.”
It is the curiosity of Hong Kongers towards Myanmar that Ei San has tapped into, with many attendees having tried Burmese food before, impressed but unable to locate more in Hong Kong.
“The combined solidarity with other communities to support and learn what is happening in the country has also spurred this curiosity with the food.”
This year, Burmese Apron has returned to a familiar format with her laphet yay wyne (Burmese milk tea) tea shop brunches.
Trading evaporated milk for its full-fat version, a familiar black tea drink kicks off the brunch including sharings of pe paratha (paratha stuffed with boiled peas), myinkwarywat thoke (pennywort salad), ame thar aloo hin (beef potato curry), and ohn no thargu pyin (coconut sago pudding).
Keep updated with Burmese Apron’s latest events on their Instagram page.
