Foot and Fire

Laphet thoke is another symbolic dish of Burma, albeit a snack. It consists of pickled tea leaves soaked in oil eaten with an assortment of fritters including roasted groundnuts, deep fried garlic, sun dried prawns, toasted sesame and deepfried crispy beans. Laphet is served in a traditional 'oat' - a lacquer container with individual compartments for each ingredients. Lahpet was an ancient symbolic peace offering between warring kingdoms in the history of Myanmar, and is exchanged and consumed after settling a dispute.

This is the five-color vegetables we ordered. We got a beautiful line up of stir-fried sweet peas, napa cabbage, young corn, cauliflower and carrots. We had this in Mandalay, but as in anywhere in Myanmar, vegetables are a side dish or a complimentary dish aside from the soup and mango chutney and fermented fish/prawns. *** This is one tasty fish which is first wrapped with chopped leaves which preserved the fish fat (see bottom layer) and spices before the banana leaves. This must be steamed and the fish meat (see the second layer) is very tasty while the skin is delicately smooth. I want to replicate this cooking. We had this in a Shan Restaurant in Mandalay near our hotel. *** Fish hot clay pot. Chunks of fried fish with vegetables and spices and visibly garnished with onion rings and pineapple slices. This is one nice rice partner. It is served in a small wok with a burner underneath. We had this in Bagan. *** Speaking of snacks, I like this deep-fried potato chips at 500 to 1000 k...