Burmese Mountain Oysters

Friend of IT Emily Chaplin has sampled everything from grasshoppers to Neapolitan pizza and some of North Carolina’s best microbrews. Here she recounts her latest gustatory adventure.
 
I have eaten the balls of a mithun. And, I can report, they tasted absolutely nothing like chicken.

The mithun (a form of the gaur or Bibos gauris) is a bovine related to the water buffalo and bison. The animal is found in parts of Asia, including the Chin highlands of western Burma (Myanmar), which is where I encountered its nether regions on my plate.

Myanmar’s Chin state is remote and not the easiest to reach. In order to travel there one needs permission from the government as well as a local guide. Journeys Myanmar made the necessary arrangements for my traveling companion and me.

The extra effort, however, is well worth it. Despite existing under conditions of poverty and repression, the Chin people are kind and welcoming, and their traditional animistic culture, which is still very much alive, is fascinating.

In Chin village society, the mithun is revered as a near mythical beast. It plays a central role in religious rituals and ceremonies. The animal has also historically served as the society’s chief economic currency. It is still used as payment in many transactions including weddings (as a dowry) and divorces (and at $500 a head, the mithun alimony settlement provides yet another example of the universal truth that even where divorce is accepted and legal, it rarely comes cheap.)

Mithun meat is fatty and rich and thus highly desirable– often exported to places like Malaysia where it commands top dollar. The dish of testicles, which I was served at an eco-lodge in Nat Ma Taung (Mt.

Victoria) National Park, was savory and flavorful– reminiscent of pork sausage.

Unfortunately I never had the pleasure of meeting a live mithun. I had hoped to photograph one, but the elusive beast had apparently “retreated into the deep forest.” I did get to sample its meat in other forms: dried as a stiff jerky, roasted in a curry sauce, and pan-fried. The balls, however, were by far my favorite.

Who knows, perhaps the divination offered by the Chin Nat Master (spiritual leader) that I will return to his village, will one day come to pass. I’ll just have to hope that if and when I encounter a mithun in the flesh he doesn’t harbor any ill will against me for my prior treatment of the family jewels.

Photos by Emily Chaplin: Mithun skulls displayed by the entrance to a Chin home (top); Chin village scene (middle); Animal sacrifice stakes that are still utilized (below)