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Myanmar, Asia

Lahpet Thoke (Burmese Tea Leaf Salad)

Fermented tea leaves dressed with garlic oil and lime, tossed with crunchy peanuts, fried beans and garlic chips: Myanmar's salty, tangy, gently bitter signature salad.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time18 min
DifficultyEasy
About servingsLahpet (fermented tea leaves) is sold in jars or pouches at Asian grocers and online. If you can't find it, steep loose-leaf green tea, squeeze it dry, chop it and mix with lime juice, garlic oil and salt, then chill overnight. Be aware it is only an approximation: fresh, grassy and bitter, without the deep sourness that comes from fermentation. Tea leaves contain caffeine.

Method

  1. Core the cabbage and shred it as finely as you can (2–3 mm), soak it in cold water for 5 minutes, then shake it really dry; wet cabbage dilutes the dressing. Slice the tomato into thin wedges and the chilli into thin rings (deseed it if you want less heat). Rinse the dried shrimp once, pat dry with paper towel and chop coarsely.

    Add in this stepwhite cabbage 100 gtomato 1green bird's-eye chilli 1dried shrimp 2 tbsp

  2. Slice the garlic evenly, 1–2 mm thick; uneven slices burn at the thin edges. Put the oil and garlic together in a 16 cm small pan over medium-low heat and fry for , stirring often. As soon as the garlic is pale golden, lift it out with a sieve onto paper towel. It keeps darkening off the heat, so take it out before it turns brown or it will taste bitter. Pour the garlic oil into a small bowl and let it cool.

    Add in this stepgarlic cloves 3peanut oil (or neutral oil) 4 tbsp

    medium-low heat

  3. Toast the peanuts in a dry pan over medium heat for , shaking constantly, adding the sesame seeds for the last minute. When the peanuts show brown spots and smell nutty, tip them onto a plate to cool; they crisp up as they cool.

    Add in this stepraw skinless peanuts 30 gsesame seeds 2 tsp

    medium heat

  4. Put the lahpet in a bowl and taste it. If the leaves are large, chop them roughly. Add the cooled garlic oil, the fish sauce and the juice of half the lime, and mix well with a spoon. The leaves should look glossy and taste salty, sour and pleasantly bitter.

    Add in this steplahpet (store-bought fermented tea leaves, drained) 60 gfish sauce 2 tsplime ½

  5. Spoon the dressed lahpet into the centre of a wide plate and arrange small heaps of cabbage, tomato, chilli, dried shrimp, toasted peanuts and sesame, fried broad beans and garlic chips around it. In Myanmar it is served this way and mixed at the table.

    Add in this stepfried broad beans (snack type) 30 g

  6. Just before eating, squeeze over the remaining lime and toss everything lightly. Taste, season with salt and eat straight away: mixed too early, the nuts and beans go soft and the cabbage weeps. It is also lovely with warm rice as a side dish.

    Add in this steplime ½salt to taste

Cook's tip

Some lahpet comes already oiled and seasoned, some plain. If yours is seasoned, add only half the fish sauce, taste, then add more. Roasted chickpeas or a mixed-nut snack can replace the broad beans. For a peanut allergy, use sunflower seeds instead.

Cooking it at camp

Fry the garlic and toast the peanuts at home and pack them in an airtight jar; keep the cabbage, tomato and lahpet in the cooler. At the campsite there is no cooking, only slicing and tossing. Add the crunchy bits right before eating.