Crunch time
Behind Rangoon Ruby’s mysterious lahpet thoke.
Visit any house in Myanmar and the hosts will probably serve a helping of lahpet thoke, or tea salad. Heavy on preparation, but easily assembled on the plate, it’s Myanmar’s most common dish. In fact, it’s estimated that half of the tea in Myanmar is eaten, rather than drunk. Traditional at weddings and funerals, where its stimulant effect is said to help those who keep watch overnight, it’s also delicious: zesty, fresh and crunchy.
Sixteen years ago, when Lee and Beverley Humpage opened The Bodhi Tree, their Burmese restaurant in Christchurch, they gave the dish a well-deserved spot on the menu, and there it has stayed, joining the line-up at sister restaurant Rangoon Ruby when it opened in 2015.
‘‘If you go to someone’s house they will usually present you with one, along with a cup of tea,’’ says chef Lee Chen. ‘‘Sometimes people present all the separate ingredients on a plate for you and you mix it together to your taste. Lots of other dishes are regional but tea salad is served everywhere.’’
Lee is originally from Taunggyi in Myanmar’s Shan state, though he has spent much longer in New Zealand than he ever did in his homeland, which he left when he was just 14. Before moving to New Zealand, he spent time learning and cooking in Tokyo.
The husband and wife team had a long hospitality history together. Before opening their own establishment, a pet peeve for them was finding a dish they loved, only to be served something slightly different when they returned to eat it again.
Rangoon Ruby’s version is Lee’s tried and tested family recipe, one he learned as a child while cooking alongside his mother and grandmother.
Consistency isn’t a problem as only Lee and his chef brother prepare the dish, a commitment which has helped the restaurant earn a faithful following.
‘‘People come in and think it’s their special something to tell their friends about,’’ Beverley says.
With more than a dozen ingredients – including deep fried split yellow peas, dry roasted peanuts, dried broad beans, sunflower and sesame seeds and raw cabbage – texture is a huge part of the dish. Hearing Lee run through the ingredients feels a bit like having a mystery solved.
Its signature crunch comes from those beans and seeds being mixed with dried shrimp, fish sauce, tomato, lemon or lime juice, and of course tea – in this case the green variety, pickled.
Tips for the home cook: Choose your tea wisely. Green tea is what’s needed and if you can’t source pickled tea leaves – the restaurant has its own supply – then you can substitute with the green variety, so long as the leaves come from the tender tips of the plant. Any kind of lentils can be used in place of the split yellow peas and an oil with a light flavour (olive is best but peanut will do) helps bind the dish together.