Don't Believe Burma Superstar! You CAN make your own TEA LEAF salad!

I love my neighborhood in San Francisco, I live in the Richmond district. Our district is very unique, when it comes to food. Right at my doorstep, I'm surrounded by cuisines from all over the world. When I was growing up, the Mandarin/Cantonese restaurants dominated, my aunt Dolores would take my cousin Sarah and I out to Dim Sum every weekend! Dim Sum is a small dishes that cost anywhere from 1-6 dollars. After the Soviet Union collapsed, there was a wave of Russian Delis and Bakeries.

You would all assume my favorite cuisine is Indian and it's ONE of my favorites, I love Burmese food as well. My favorite is the Tea Leaf Salad, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. For a long time, I've gone to Burma Superstar, Pagan, Mandalay and Little Star. I always wanted to make this at home, but they told me this "tea leaf" is "imported" from Burma and you can't get it in America. I let it go, but since I've started cooking at home more often --- because I KNOW what goes in the food,  I really want to make this salad. Sure enough, Burma Superstar told me a little "white" lie, you can make your own tea leaf salad and add your own twist. Check out this recipe!

5 teaspoons laphet (fermented tea leaves)

 

2 teaspoons crispy fried garlic

 

2 teaspoons crispy fried yellow beans

 

2 teaspoons roasted peanuts

 

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

 

Extra Ingredients (add to your liking)

 

- Chopped Tomato

 

- Chopped Cabbage

 - Peeled Garlic

 

- Green chili

 

Dressing:

 

1/2 teaspoon limejuice

 

3 teaspoons peanut oil

 

First, put laphet (fermented tea leaves) into a bowl. If you want your laphet to be spicy, pound la-phet and green chili together in a mortar. It'll became a paste. Pour 3 teaspoons of peanut oil. Leave it for awhile so that laphet can soak up the oil.

Put in crispy fried garlic, crispy fried yellow beans, roasted peanuts and sesame seeds in the bowl. Mix them together. You can also add chopped tomato, chopped cabbage, dried prawns, peeled garlic and green chili as you like.

Put 1/2 teaspoon of limejuice