Pickle tea leaf salad (Behind the scene) Featuring Lively Nimbus

Today we are making Pickled Tea Leaf Salad { translated directly from Burmese Language (pronunciation : လက္ဖက္ - lahpet)}. It is a very popular traditional food of Burma (Myanmar). In Myanmar, people eat it (mostly) in group with or without rice. They like to talk and eat usually with green tea. It is a nice tradition.

Main ingredient:

• Pickled Tea Leaf Salad (Specially make from tea leaf - taste is sour or bitter or sweet or spicy or combination of taste)
• Mixture of Fried variety of Bean, sesame seed and peanut 
• oil (just small amount)

Optional Ingredient:

• Tomato
• Cabbage
• Green or Red Chilli
• Lime
• salt
• Garlic 

*Ingredient may be differ from region to region even in Burma

Making of this salad is as easy as such. Mixing of all the ingredients I listed above in suitable proportion. That's all. If you feel taste will be simple, you are wrong. Taste is difficult to express - it has deep and complex taste that is very difficult to describe. Moreover, the result will be different from one salad to another because it is mainly depend on the decision and taste preference of the maker (here I will call him "Chef: the Salad Maker"). Some "Amateur: the Salad Maker" may taste during making and then add some ingredient and then taste and amend again and again till the salad reaches the taste he/she like.

Lovely part of this salad is "preparing or making". I will call it "Art". If "Chef: the Salad Maker" have more emotionally attached to salad, the taste will be better. Professional "Chef: the Salad Makers" will not need amend again and again. Normally, they have their own secret proportion and ingredients. Most of the Burmese accept different taste of Pickled Tea Leaf Salad.

I think Burmese people have inborn love to this Pickle tea leaf salad. In Burma(Myanmar), it is really hard to find Burmese who doesn't like or eat this salad. I personally accept that Salad as National Salad.(Not related to article: Sometime I may use my assumption and hyperbole) I didn't say it as National Food coz' Mon-Hin-Ga (မုန္႔ဟင္းခါး) (Directly Translated: Fish Paste Soup Noodle - I will write about that strange, exotic and delicious food when appropriate) will be the one. 

Here on, I will show you how we make Pickle Tea Leaf Salad for our dinner.I will skip the preparing part for mixing. I will show how to mix.

(Shake it! Shake it! Till it mixed!)

After main and some optional ingredients that I listed above mixed, our "Semi-Professional Chef: The Salad Maker" put all the Ingredients in box and shake. (Traditionally - mixing and making to final outcome is done only by hand.  Here, we try different innovative way :D .)

Pros and cons of mixing in box over traditional mixing with hand :
Pros:

• Hygienic

Cons:

• Not mixed well
• Use more utility (box)

Here is the outcome:

(still in box)

(Transfer to a Bowl / Ready to eat - some people who already taste this kind of salad may be badly drooling now)  Dude!!! you are Drooling....

If you think the appearance is not appreciable, the taste is inversely proportion to its appearance cuz' we didn't beautified it as we are not "Professional Chef: the Salad Maker". It is all natural. 

Warning:If you are virgin to "Pickle Tea Leaf Salad", I would suggest you to taste it little by little. First bite may be weird and bitter. I would suggest again "Don't give up". Try whenever you have an opportunity. Trying little by little will make you totally fall in love with this weirdly exotic delicious salad. Then, I have to warm you again. It can sometime cause gastric discomfort. You don't have to worry. You will only become little bit gassy. So this last warning is more concern to the person around you. so beware!.

Special thanks to Lively Nimbus for the photography.