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Lahpet thoke
Lahpet thoke: Burmese pickled tea-leaf salad with crunchy beans and peanuts
Lahpet thoke is how Myanmar welcomes a guest: a lacquered tray of pickled tea leaves surrounded by fried beans, peanuts, sesame and garlic, offered after meals, at weddings and at monk feasts from Mandalay to Yangon. Mixed into a salad with cabbage, tomato, chilli and lime, it becomes the country's most famous dish: bitter, sour, salty and crunchy at once, with a gentle caffeine lift. Ready-made lahpet sometimes contains fish sauce and the crunchy mix often has dried shrimp, so this version quick-pickles loose green tea at home. Chef's tip: soak the tea in several changes of hot water and squeeze it hard each time; that's what tames the bitterness.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the quick lahpet (tea-leaf pickle)
For the salad
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Pour boiling water over ⅔ oz loose-leaf green tea and leave for 5 minutes, then drain. Repeat the soak twice more with hot (not boiling) water, squeezing the leaves hard each time. They should taste pleasantly bitter, not harsh.
15 minStep 2: Chop the squeezed leaves finely and mix with 1 garlic clove, 1 green chilli, 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp peanut oil and ½ tsp salt. Leave for at least 10 minutes (or up to 3 days in the fridge) so the flavours mellow into a dark green paste.
10 minStep 3: Just before serving, put 7 oz white cabbage and 2 tomatoes in a bowl with the lahpet, 1 red chilli, 1 lime and ¼ tsp salt and mix well with your hands so the cabbage takes on the tea's colour.
Step 4: Add 1 ¾ oz fried broad beans or fried split peas, 1 ⅜ oz roasted peanuts, 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds and 2 tbsp crispy fried garlic at the very last moment and toss once. A common mistake is adding the crunchy mix early; it goes soft within minutes and the salad loses its point. Serve at once.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 14 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does lahpet thoke take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of garlic clove?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of green chilli?
- A pinch of chilli flakes per chilli.
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