Like a giant bell covered in gold, Shwedagon Pagoda lords over Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)'s skyline.  Its story is much like Burma's: elusive, mysterious. Shin Sawbu was a princess of the southern kingdom of Hanthawaddy Pegu. Through an exciting life documented by practically nobody, she rose to become queen and then in retirement to bring the gold to the great pagoda.

In this episode, we attempt as best we can to piece together her story and we make a Burmese curry while we're at it.

Sources: Victoria and Albert Museum website Wikifreakingpedia Duguid, Naomi. Burma: Rivers of Flavor Lonely Planet Myanmar Insights Guide Myanmar

Photograph by Marcin Konsek / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0