Rock ‘n’ Roll in your mouth

– MIANG KHAM –
a small snack from Thailand

Miang Kham means “many things in one bite” and that’s still an understatement. It is a real firework of flavors that dance sweet, salty, spicy and a little bit bitter on our palates. A fabulous pleasure experience that completely surprises you after you think you’ve tried everything.

If you are not in Thailand, you can easily cook it yourself at home.

Miang Kham ingredients for stuffing the leaves

12 betel leaves (Cha Plu or Cha Ploo) or large spinach or lettuce leaves
2 tbsp red Thai shallots, diced
2 tbsp chilli, chopped
1 tablespoon of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon of ginger, finely chopped
2 limes, cut into small cubes
2 tbsp dried shrimp (works without or you can use cocktail prawns)
2 tablespoons of unsalted peanuts roasted
4 tbsp coconut flakes, roasted dry in the pan

Sauce

1 teaspoon shrimp paste
4 tablespoons of dried shrimp
4 tbsp peanuts, roasted (or roasted dry in the pan)
8 tbsp coconut flakes, roasted dry in the pan
6 tbsp palm sugar, grated
2 tbsp fish sauce
125 ml water
Some chili powder

Wrap the shrimp paste in aluminum foil and roast over a flame.
Put all ingredients except the sugar for the sauce in a blender and puree.
Bring the sauce to the boil, add the sugar and simmer on a low heat until the liquid has boiled down a little.
Season with fish sauce or some salt, let cool.
Do not let it boil down too much, because the sauce will become a little thicker when it is cold.

If everything is not at hand at home, the sauce can also vary slightly.
The sauce is usually based on the three simple basic ingredients sweet, salty and sour:

· 3 tbsp palm sugar or dark raw sugar
· 1 tbsp maple syrup
· 1 tsp shrimp paste or 1 tbsp fish sauce
· 1 tablespoon of tamarind paste or lime juice
· Possibly little water, the whole thing should not be too liquid, more like a syrup.

To serve, put all the leaves on a plate, spread the other ingredients in small bowls and place the sauce in the middle.

Everyone takes a leaf, takes the ingredients they like from the bowls and sprinkles a little sauce on them. Then the leaf is folded and goes into the mouth.