Burmese red pork stew

There was a recipe in the Lovely Dining Companion's issue of Bon Appetit; although a little involved, it sounded too good to pass up. So I made it. And now I'm wondering: I have only had Burmese food once and I found this preparation to be surprisingly sweet. I liked it sorta but would make it less sweet next time. Also found it didn't have much depth of flavor, particularly, though the flavor it had was fine.

Can someone with knowledge of Burmese food tell me whether it's supposed to be distinctly sweet?

Sounds Excessive.

I've prepared more than a few Burmese dishes (truly one of THE MOST under appreciated Cuisines of the world IMHO- a fine,
hybrid of Thai and Indian, with some British Colonial influences tossed into the mix) from Copeland Marks book,
The Burmese Kitchen (ISBN 0-87131-524-6) and never had encountered a savory dish with that amount of sugar.
Perhaps a typo.
As an example, the Burmese dish called "Wetthani Hin" /Red Pork Pot Roast is described as being called "red" from the caramelized sugar turning the pork
a reddish brown.
For 2lbs of boneless Pork, cut into 2" pieces
2 tbsp soy sauce
.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp corn or peanut oil
1 tbsp. brown or white sugar
2 garlic cloves,sliced
1" fresh ginger,chopped
2 cups of water (says that beer or firewater are substituted for more flavor)

Marinate the pork in salt and soy sauce for an hour. Heat oil, add sugar stir until carmelized. Add the garlic and ginger,
stirfrying over medium heat until brown (appx 2minutes). Add the pork ,mix well.Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes ,stirring every now and then.
Add the water (or 12 oz. beer) cover and continue to cook for 45 minutes, or untill the pork is tender and/or the liquid has
mostly evaporated.
Serves 6.

Another recipe for a pork called "Wetta Apo-Dthatsa" /Diet Pork- uses one lb of pork and water and jaggery or sugar (only 2 TEASPOONS), with tamarind paste salt and fish sauce.
Again- no CUPS of SUGAR!

If you can find an out of print version of this seminal book on Burmese Cuisine- I'd highly reccomend it. He's a fantastic author and
cultural historian. His other book on Sephardic Cooking is one of my favorites as well!
Cheers,
Hombre de Acero.

Thanks for all the tips--and the recipe. Doesn't look all that different, except for the amount of sugar. Don't think it was a typo, though, based on the relative amount of water to sugar. But the amount in your recipe sure sounds like a completely different dish. Gotta try it. Thanks again!