Skip to main content

Lephet Thoke (Burmese Fermented Tea Leaf Salad) #OurFamilyTable



Today the #OurFamilyTable is sharing summer salad recipes! Christie of A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures encouraged the bloggers: "The produce is starting to roll in! May is salad month, so let's share some hearty salads to chow down on this month."

We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you're at it, join our Pinterest board, too!

Lephet Thoke 
Burmese Fermented Tea Leaf Salad

When I began researching food for a Burmese feast, I was intrigued by recipes for Lephet Thoke, a fermented tea leaves salad. But when I began to delve into where to find these fermented tea leaves, I came up empty...and not just me. There are numerous discussion boards dedicated to fermented tea leaves and banned Burmese exports. Apparently there is an ingredient, or noxious chemical, that the tea leaves have when produced in Burma; that makes them un-importable into the United States. Okay, I can understand that. So I've learned to make my own and have made this salad many, many times. It's not specifically a summer salad. But it's one that my family enjoys all year long!

So, I have seen this spelled lephet, lahpet, and laphet. No clue which is correct. It's probably just a phoneticized version anyway.


"A thee ma, thayet; a thar ma, wet; a ywet ma, lahpet."
"Of all the fruit, the mango's the best; of all the meat, the pork's the best;
and of all the leaves, lahpet's the best."


For my salad, I typically diverge from what I read is traditional and use what I have. So, I often swap out romaine lettuce for arugula and peanuts for hazelnuts; I also add hard boiled eggs for more protein and to make it a complete meal.

But the first step is to ferment those tea leaves. This process takes about three days, so do it ahead of when you want to serve.

Ingredients

Fermented Tea Leaves

  • 1 C unfiltered apple cider vinegar
  • 1 C water
  • 1/4 C green tea leaves, crushed
  • 1/4 C sesame oil
  • 1/4 C olive oil
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 1 T fish sauce

Salad

  • organic greens
  • organic tomatoes, sliced into wedges
  • hard-boiled eggs, sliced into wedges
  • chopped nuts for garnish (peanuts are traditional, I used hazelnuts here)


Procedure

Fermented Tea Leaves
Crush the tea leaves with a mortar and a pestle. In a medium pot, bring the vinegar and water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, add the crushed tea leaves, and simmer for 30 minutes. Make sure the leaves don't burn, but the liquid may completely dissolve. Drain any remaining liquid. In a large mixing bowl, stir the leaves in with the remaining ingredients. Cover and let stand for about three days. You can leave it as long as four; after that it starts to taste heavy and too sour.

Salad
Layer washed and dried arugula, tomato wedges, and hardboiled egg wedges on your serving plate. Spoon a heap of the fermented tea leaves in the center. When serving have the diners sprinkle nuts on their own salads to their liking.

Comments

  1. That's what I love about you Cam.....you never give up. Can't find an ingredient you want? Well, heck, just make it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce

Aloo Tiki {Pakistan}

To start off our Pakistani culinary adventure, I started us off with aloo tiki - potato cutlets. I'm always game for tasty street food. I found a couple of different recipes and incorporated those together for this version. Ingredients 6-8 small red potatoes, scrubbed 1 T cumin seeds 1 T fresh chopped parsley 1/2 t ground coriander 1 t minced garlic Procedure Boil the potatoes until they are tender. Drain and let cool. Mash the potatoes. Traditionally they are mashed without their skins. I left the skins on. In a small pan, toast the cumin seeds on high heat until the begin to give off an aroma and begin to darken. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to keep them from cooking any more. Blend all of the spices into the mashed potatoes, then shape into small patties. If you wet your hands, the potato mixture won't stick to them. Heat a splash of oil in a large, flat-bottom pan. Dip each patty into beaten egg and carefully place in the oil. P

Hot Chocolate Agasajo-Style {Spice It Up!}

photo by D For my Spice It Up! kiddos this week, I was looking for an exotic drink to serve while we learned about saffron. I found a recipe from food historian Maricel Presilla that mimicked traditional Spanish hot chocolate from the 17th century where it was served at lavish receptions called agasajos . When I teach, I don't always get to shoot photos. Thankfully, D grabbed my camera and snapped a few. Ingredients serves 14-16 1 gallon organic whole milk 3 T dried rosebuds - or 2 t rosewater 2 t saffron threads, lightly crushed 3 T ground cinnamon 3 whole tepin chiles, crushed 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate Procedure In a large soup pot that can hold a gallon plus, combine milk, dried rosebuds (or rosewater, if you are using that), saffron threads, ground cinnamon, chiles, vanilla beans, and sugar and warm over medium heat till it steams. Whisk to dissolve sugar, then lower heat an