Burmese punchy-crunchy ginger salad (Gyin Thoke)

We are most familiar with the wonderful tea leaf salad from Myanmar. However, Burmese culture is full of wonderful salads, too. This recipe is quite impressive. It has all the flavour profiles: tart, sweet, nutty, crunchy and that touch of heat from the pickled ginger. This salad is mainly a job of assembling the ingredients; it also gives you a blank canvas to make it look as pretty as you want. I have a few cookbooks on Burmese cuisine, but this is the one I keep coming back to. It is packed with wonderful recipes that satisfy my craving for this cuisine. All the recipes that I have cooked from it turn out beautifully, full of rich and authentic flavours. It is the perfect cookbook for those who want to get into Burmese cuisine.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pickled ginger, rinsed thoroughly in cold water, drained, and sliced into fine strands. I used ready-sushi ginger

1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

1/2 cup roasted or fried split peas or chickpeas (store-bought or homemade)

1/2 cup roasted peanuts (store-bought)

1/2 cup lightly toasted sesame seeds

1/4 cup dried shrimp powder. I used an Indian dried shrimp chutney

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup shredded Napa cabbage

1/4 cup fried garlic (see recipe)

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons garlic oil, or to taste

2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

To make the fried garlic, add 2-3 tablespoons oil to a very small pan and heat on a low flame. Add the garlic and fry until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Set the oil aside for the garlic oil.

Place all the ingredients except the garlic oil and salt in a bowl and mix together with your hands, blending well. Add the garlic oil and salt and mix again. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.

Alternatively, toss the lettuce with salt, garlic oil, and lime juice. Arrange the lettuce in a bowl, and arrange the rest of the ingredients on top of it. Bring to the table for the wow factor. Toss well and serve.