Shan Village Khaut Swe

Once the capital of a Shan princedom, Hsipaw is five hours northeast of Mandalay on the road to Lashio and the Yunnanese border. The town is small: after a few minutes’ walking, you can be out in the countryside, with the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Just outside town one day I came upon a small family-run noodle stand and stopped for a bowl of khaut swe (pronounced “kao sway”), rice noodles topped with simmered meat and pea tendrils. It’s a first cousin of the