It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why tea leaf salad – laphet thoke – is so addictive, but it has something to do with its singular combination of textures and savory, salty, mildly sour flavors – and, of course, the caffeine kick you get after eating it  This version of laphet thoke is served in a large bowl with mounds of peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, crispy garlic, fried yellow split peas, tomato, jalapeno, and shredded lettuce.  The textures and flavors all enhance the deep umami quality of the laphet.

YIELD:  Serves 4 as part of a larger meal

Our Burma Love Foods Tea Leaf Salad Kits and Dressings are available for purchase at our Burma Superstar Restaurants and select retailers around the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information on where you can find our products, visit www.BurmaLoveFoods.com.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups thinly sliced romaine lettuce (about 1 ½ heads romaine)
• ½ cup Tea Leaf Dressing**
• ¼ cup Fried Garlic Chips*
• ¼ cup Fried Yellow Split Peas*
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped toasted peanuts*
• ¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds*
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds*
• 1 Roma tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 small jalapeno, seeded and diced (about ¼ cup)
• 1 tablespoon shrimp powder
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce or a few generous pinches of salt
• 1 lemon or lime cut into wedges

Instructions:

1. To make the salad, place a bed of lettuce in the center of a large plate of platter.  

2. Spoon the tea leaf dressing into the center of the lettuce.  

3. Around the lettuce, arrange separate piles of fried garlic, split peas, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, tomato and jalapeno.  

4. Sprinkle with shrimp powder and drizzle with fish sauce.  

5. Before serving, squeeze 2 lemon sedges over the plate.  Using 2 forks mix the ingredients together until the tea leaves lightly coat the lettuce.  

6. Taste, adding more lemon of fish sauce at the table if desired.