Tea leaf salad (Laphet Thoke)

A Burmese specialty combining sour tea leaves with cabbage, tomatoes and crunchy elements.

The tea leaves are pickled rather than dried, and come to the table in a mound surrounded by fried broad beans, peanuts, toasted sesame, fried garlic and dried shrimp. It is tossed at the table with oil and lime, so every mouthful is sour, salty and crunchy at once.

Laphet is a social dish as much as a food: it is what a Burmese household puts out for a visitor, and it carries enough caffeine to keep the conversation going.