Hi All,
Are you guys ready for an Amazing recipe? How many of you have ever tried a Burmese Fermented Tea Leaf Salad? I can tell you that this is Fantastic, East to Make and a recipe that you will use all the time both for you and to impress your guests.
1 cup loose green tea leaves
2 lemons juiced
10-12 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno
1 inch fresh ginger
1 inch fresh galangal
3 scallions or green onions
2T sesame oil
2T peanut oil
Pea sprouts or any sprouts you like
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce or cabbage
Grape tomatoes
Fried garbanzo beans or lentil beans
Roasted peanuts
Sesame seeds
Fish sauce
Lets start with the Fermented Tea Recipe:
Take 1 cup of loose green Tea leaves and go ahead and brew yourself a batch of green tea. It is recommended to steep the green tea leaves for a good 10 minutes. Make sure you reserve the tea leaves. Now, take the tea leaves and soak them in cold water for 2 to 4 hours to remove the bitterness.
Place the tea leaves in a food processor with 10 to 12 cloves of garlic, 1 inch of peeled fresh ginger, 1 inch of fresh galangal, 3 scallions or green onions, juice of 2 lemons, 1 chile of your choice for some heat, a good pinch of kosher salt, 2 Tablespoons of sesame oil and 2 Tablespoons of peanut oil. Pulse until you get a nice herby paste somewhat like a pesto.
You must place this mixture in an airtight container in a cool dark place for two days. This step is very important to achieve the right flavor.
Now for the salad:
Now, prepare your salad, this is a very optional process but I will give you the traditional method that includes lettuce, pear tomatoes, peanuts, sesame seeds both black and white, fried chick or garbanzo beans or fried yellow split peas, red onion ( my option ) and some fresh sprouts of any kind. A big mound of the fermented tea leaves is placed in the middle of the salad.
The options are endless, use what you like, the crunchies are what make this salad so special and are a most important element. All nuts are good! On my salad, I like to fry some garlic and when it gets to be a golden brown, I take is out and drain it on some paper towel. I sprinkle this on my salad and squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top. Once you try this salad, it will become one that you make over and over.
Enjoy!!
