Mizo cuisine facts for kids

Mizo cuisine is the traditional food of the Mizo people who live in Mizoram, India. Mizos mostly eat rice as their main meal.

What is Mizo Food Like?

The food in Mizoram is similar to what people eat in other parts of Northeast India. Rice is the most important food in Mizoram. Mizo people love to add meat to almost every dish they make. Popular meats include fish, chicken, pork, and beef.

Mizo meals often use less oil and have lots of vegetables. Many Mizo people enjoy eating boiled vegetables with their rice. However, younger people sometimes prefer fried and spicy foods. They also like trying foods from other cultures.

A very popular Mizo dish is called bai. It's made by boiling different vegetables. People often add bekang (which are fermented soybeans) or sa-um (a type of fermented pork) to it. Bai is usually eaten with rice. Another common dish is sawhchiar, which is rice cooked with beef, pork, or chicken.

Popular Mizo Dishes

The main food for most Mizo people is rice. They eat it with different meats and vegetables on the side.

Side Dishes to Try

Typical Mizo food, including rice, bai, meat, and hmarcha rawt

• Bai – A mix of different herbs cooked with string beans and edible ferns.
• Rep – Smoked meat (like fish, chicken, pork, or beef) mixed with chilies, local herbs, and fresh leafy greens.
• Chhum han – A dish made from mixed steamed vegetables.
• Hmarcha rawt - A tangy and spicy chili sauce.
• Bekang - Fermented soybeans, often used to add flavor.

Lunchtime Meals

Typical Mizo lunch with chhangban, alu chop, and tea

What people eat for lunch in a Mizo home can be different every day. It might be simple biscuits, noodles, or even a snack called "Chhangban." Chhangban is a bread made from finely ground sticky rice. It's usually eaten with Kurtai (a type of jaggery, which is unrefined sugar) and tea.

Some foods often eaten at lunch are:

• Sanpiau – This is a rice porridge mixed with meat, sauce, and Mizo spices.
• Chhangban – A sticky bread made from local rice.
• Artui chhipchhuan chow – Noodles served with a sunny-side-up fried egg.
• Alu chop – A fried potato snack.
• Sawhchiar – Rice cooked with meat like beef, pork, or chicken.