Thai cuisine · Salads & Mezze

Miang Kham

Leaf-wrapped bites of toasted coconut, peanuts, diced lime and ginger, drizzled with dark palm sugar syrup.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 20 betel leaves (or young spinach leaves)
• 50g desiccated coconut
• 50g peanuts
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp
• 1 lime
• 1 piece ginger (3cm)
• 3 shallots
• 3 Thai chillies
• 100g palm sugar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce

Instructions

1. Toast the desiccated coconut in a dry pan over medium heat for 4–5 minutes, stirring constantly, until golden, and set half aside for the sauce.
2. Toast the peanuts in the same pan for 4 minutes, add the dried shrimp and toast for 1 minute more until crisp and fragrant, then roughly chop the peanuts.
3. Simmer the palm sugar with 100ml water, the fish sauce and the toasted coconut set aside earlier, uncovered, for 10–12 minutes until a thick, dark syrup forms; let it cool.
4. Cut the ginger, shallots and chillies into very fine dice, and dice the lime, skin and all, into small cubes.
5. Wash the leaves, pat them dry and arrange them on a platter together with all the ingredients and the sauce, each in its own small pile.
6. To serve, fold each leaf into a little parcel, fill it with a small amount of each ingredient, drizzle with a teaspoon of syrup and eat in one bite.