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Burmese Mlcts (Ləpʰɛʔ) Burmese Fermented Pickled Tea Burmese

Lahpet is pickled or fermented tea leaves that plays an important role in Burmese culture and hospitality. It is regarded as one of the best national dishes and delicacies. The traditional process of making lahpet involves steaming, packing, pressing, and fermenting young tea leaves for 3-4 months to develop flavor and acidity. It is then flavored and can be served in different forms, most commonly as a salad or snack accompanied by tea. Lahpet is an integral part of many ceremonies and occasions in Myanmar.

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SHATERLAN ALVIAR. TACBOBO
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109 views

Burmese Mlcts (Ləpʰɛʔ) Burmese Fermented Pickled Tea Burmese

Lahpet is pickled or fermented tea leaves that plays an important role in Burmese culture and hospitality. It is regarded as one of the best national dishes and delicacies. The traditional process of making lahpet involves steaming, packing, pressing, and fermenting young tea leaves for 3-4 months to develop flavor and acidity. It is then flavored and can be served in different forms, most commonly as a salad or snack accompanied by tea. Lahpet is an integral part of many ceremonies and occasions in Myanmar.

Uploaded by

SHATERLAN ALVIAR. TACBOBO
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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History or Origin

Lahpet, also spelled laphat, laphet, lephet, leppet, or letpet in English


(Burmese: လက်ဖက်; MLCTS: lak hpak, pronounced [ləpʰɛʔ]),

is Burmese for fermented or pickled tea.  Laphet is regarded as a national delicacy that plays a


significant role in Burmese society, and remains a traditional Burmese gesture of hospitality and
is served to guests visiting a home.

Lahpet thoke, Burmese tea leaf salad or pickled tea salad is a favourite national dish.

Its place in the cuisine of Myanmar is reflected by the following popular expression: "Of all the
fruit, the mango's the best; of all the meat, pork's the best; and of all the leaves, lahpet's the
best". In the West, laphet is most commonly encountered in "tea leaf salad" (လက်ဖက်သု ပ် )

Burmese tea is processed in three major forms:

 Lahpet chauk (လက်ဖက်ခြောက် ), or dried tea leaves, also called a-gyan gyauk (အကြမ်း


ခြောက် ), is used to make green tea, which is called yei-nway gyan (ရေနွေးကြမ်း , plain/crude hot
water) or lahpet-yei gyan (လက်ဖက်ရည်ကြမ်း , plain/crude tea). Green tea is the national drink in
the predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, a country with no national drink other than palm wine.
 Acho gyauk (အချ ိုခြောက် , lit. 'sweet and dry'), or black tea, is used to make sweet tea
(လက်ဖက်ရည်ချ ို, lahpetyei gyo) with milk and sugar.
 Lahpet so (လက်ဖက်စို , lit. 'wet tea') specifically refers to a pickled tea, despite lahpet being
generally synonymous with pickled tea.
The practice of eating tea in modern-day Myanmar dates back to prehistoric antiquity, reflecting
a legacy of indigenous tribes who pickled and fermented tea leaves inside bamboo tubes,
bamboo baskets, plantain leaves and pots.[

According to Burmese folklore, tea was introduced to the country by King Alaungsithu in the
1100s, during the Pagan dynasty.[6][5][7] Records of tea drinking date back to his reign, with
evidence of royal teacups and tea servers employed in the Burmese royal court. [8

Processing or ingredients Use

The traditional laphet fermentation process is a three-step process, encompassing pre-


fermentation, fermentation, and modification of the fermented tea leaves.

The traditional laphet fermentation process is a three-step process, encompassing pre-


fermentation, fermentation, and modification of the fermented tea leaves. [2] Tender juvenile tea
leaves and leaf buds are selected for fermenting, while the rest are relegated for drying. [2] After
picking, the tea leaves are steamed for about five minutes before either drying or fermenting.
[2] Young leaves are then packed into bamboo vats or clay pots, set in pits and pressed by heavy
weights to extract water. The fermentation process is checked at intervals and the pulp may
occasionally require re-steaming.[16] The anaerobic fermentation is driven by naturally
forming lactic acid bacteria, and is completed in 3–4 months.[19] Stages of fermentation are
indicated by the pulp's changes in color (from green to golden-green), texture (softened leaves),
and acidity, which decreases with time.[2] The near-final pulp is then washed, massaged, and
drained. The final form of laphet is then flavored with minced garlic, ground chili, salt, lemon
juice, and peanut oil.[2]

Preparation

Burmese lahpet (လက်ဖက်သု ပ် ) is served in two main forms. The first is mainly ceremonial and is
called A-hlu lahpet (အလှူလက်ဖက်, လက်ဖက်သု ပ်လူ ကြီးသု ပ် or အဖွားကြီးအို သု ပ် ) or Mandalay lahpet.
The second form is mostly served with meals and is more popular.

Mandalay lahpet is traditionally served in a shallow lacquerware dish with a lid and several


compartments called a lahpet ohk. Pickled tea flavored with sesame oil is put in the
central compartment. Other compartments may include ingredients such as crisp
fried garlic, chickpeas, butterfly peas, Australian peas, toasted sesame and peanuts,
crushed dried shrimp, preserved shredded ginger and fried shredded coconut.
Lahpet is served in this form for hsun kyway (offering a meal to monks) at
Buddhist novitiation ceremonies called shinbyu and at weddings.[citation needed] No special
occasion or ceremony in Myanmar is considered complete without Mandalay lahpet.
In nat (spirit) worship, lahpet is offered to the guardian spirits of forests, mountains,
rivers, and fields.[20] Invitations to a shinbyu are traditionally done by calling from door to
door with a lahpet ohk, and acceptance is indicated by partaking in it.[21]
Lahpet may be served as a snack or after a meal for family and visitors. It is usually
placed in the center of the table with the green tea. It has a bittersweet and pungent
taste and leafy texture. Many believe in its medicinal properties for the digestive system
and for controlling bile and mucus.[15] Its stimulant effect (from the caffeine in tea) is
especially popular with students preparing for exams, pwè goers at all-night theatrical
performances, and funeral aides who keep watch on caskets overnight. [1]
Lahpet thohk (လက်ဖက်သု ပ် ) or Yangon lahpet is a pickled tea salad that is very popular
across Myanmar, especially with women.[citation needed] It is prepared by mixing the
ingredients of Mandalay lahpet (except for the coconut) and adding fresh tomatoes,
garlic, green chilis, and shredded cabbage, and is dressed with fish sauce, sesame or
peanut oil, and lime juice.[1] Lahpet with plain white rice is another student favorite,
traditionally served at the end of every meal.[22]
Some of the most popular commercial lahpet brands include Ayee Taung
lahpet from Mandalay, Shwe Toak from Mogok, and Yuzana and Pinpyo
Ywetnu from Yangon. Mixed ingredients of fried garlic, peas, peanuts and sesame have
become available Hna-pyan gyaw (twice-fried) for convenience, although they are
traditionally sold separately.[15][20] Ayee Taung has been around for over 100 years. Its
new recipes, such as Shu-shè (extra hot) and Kyetcheini (Red Cross), are quite popular.
Zayan lahpet is lahpet mixed with carambola (star fruit) and pickled young leaves cut
together with coarse leaves. Many prefer Mogok lahpet as it uses only young tea leaves.
[15]
In the Northern Thai provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, lahpet
thohk can be found at restaurants where Shan ethnic food is served. In Thai, it is
called yam miang (ยำเหมียง), from Shan neng yam (ၼဵင်ႈယမ်း).[23][24]
The town of Pyay (formerly Prome) is known for a local delicacy known as taw
laphet (တောလက်ဖက်; lit. 'rural laphet') or Nibbinda laphet (နိဗ္ဗိန္ဒလက်ဖက်).[25] Originating
from Burmese nunneries in the area, the laphet is fermented from the leaves of
the naywe (နရွဲ) tree, or kyettet (ကြက်တက် ), the Combretum pilosum plant.[26][27] The pulp
is then tightly wrapped into dried banbwe (ဘန့်ပွေး) leaves and left soaking in regularly
changed water for up to 2 years, before it is consumed. [26] Taw laphet is otherwise
consumed in an identical fashion to traditional laphet.[26]

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