New Potatoes with Spiced Shallot Oil

In temperate and northern climates, we take the year-round availability of potatoes for granted. But in Rakhine State on Burma’s west coast, there’s a very limited growing season for potatoes, from February until early May—in other words, from a month before the start of the hot season until the rains begin.

Potatoes are eaten only in season there, and when they are small. In this dish they are dressed with shallot oil that is, in typical Rakhine fashion, made hot with a little chil