Burmese

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Lahpet Thoke (Fermented Tea Leaf Salad)

Myanmar's national dish, and the only one on this site in which the leaves of the tea plant are eaten rather than infused. Raw tea leaf is far too astringent to eat: it is loaded with tannin. This site already has two answers to tannin — acorn jelly leaches it out into water and throws the water away, dried persimmon links it into molecules too large to grip. Lahpet is the third. Steamed leaves are pressed under a heavy weight and no brine is poured in, so the only liquid is what the leaves themselves give up, and after months the astringency is gone and sourness and savour are left in its place. Everything else in the bowl is crunchy, and that is structure, not taste.

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Mohinga (Fish Noodle Soup)

Myanmar's national dish: finely flaked fish simmered with lemongrass and turmeric into a broth thickened with toasted chickpea flour, ladled over thin rice noodles. The contrast between soft noodles and crisp fritters, boiled egg, raw onion and lime is the whole point — and in Myanmar it's breakfast.