Burmese Salads: A Guide to Thoke

In Burma a salad is called a thoke, which means mixed by hand. Cooked and raw ingredients are tossed together with oil, something sour and something crunchy until every mouthful has a bit of everything. This guide covers the thokes Aamna makes at home in Hackney and the ones you will find on stalls across Burma.

What makes a Burmese salad different

A Burmese salad is closer to a mixed dish than a bowl of leaves. The main ingredient is often cooked, like rice or noodles, or preserved, like pickled tea leaves or ginger. Then it is dressed, seasoned and mixed with your hands so the oil and flavours coat everything.

The balance matters more than any single ingredient. You want salty from fish sauce, sour from lime or tamarind, a little heat from chilli oil, and plenty of crunch. Toasted gram flour is the one most people outside Burma have never seen in a salad. It soaks up the dressing and gives a nutty, toasty flavour.

Burmese salads to make at home

Two from Aamna’s kitchen, both good for sharing.

Lahpet thoke: tea leaf salad

The best known Burmese salad. Pickled tea leaves are mixed with fried beans, peanuts and garlic, then fresh tomato, onion, coriander and lemon. It is salty, sour and crunchy, and Aamna’s lahpet is completely vegan. She pickles the tea leaves herself and fries a big jar of beans and dal that keeps for months. If you want to know more about the leaves themselves, read our guide to Burmese pickled tea leaves.

Thami letto: rice and noodle salad

Rice, spaghetti and glass noodles tossed with chilli oil, tamarind, fish sauce, roasted gram flour, peanuts, fried garlic and crispy onions. Aamna’s thami letto makes a big tray for about 20 people, so it comes out at family gatherings. It is the dish behind her Thami Letto jar, and our Thami Letto guide tells that story.

Other Burmese salads worth knowing

These are the thokes you meet in Burmese tea shops and at street stalls. There are no recipes for them here yet, but they show how far the idea stretches.

• Gin thoke. Shredded pickled ginger with sesame seeds and fried beans, often served alongside tea leaf salad.
• Nan gyi thoke. A noodle salad from Mandalay: thick, round rice noodles mixed with chicken curry, chilli oil and toasted gram flour, then topped with egg, bean sprouts and fried shallots. Eaten for breakfast or as a daytime snack.
• Samusa thoke. Samosas cut into pieces and mixed with shredded cabbage, onion and mint, with a ladle of curry broth poured over.
• Khauk swe thoke. A wheat noodle salad with cabbage, carrot and dried shrimp.
• Htamin thoke. A rice salad with tomato, potato, glass noodles and gram flour, a close cousin of thami letto.

How to build a Burmese salad

Once you know the pattern, you can make a thoke out of almost anything.

• Start with a base. Cooled rice, noodles, shredded cabbage or pickled tea leaves.
• Add oil. Garlic oil or chilli oil carries the flavour through everything.
• Add something sour. Lime, lemon or tamarind.
• Season. Fish sauce, or salt if you want it vegan.
• Add crunch. Toasted gram flour, roasted peanuts, fried garlic and crispy onions.
• Finish fresh. Tomato, onion, coriander and a squeeze more lime.
• Mix by hand. It really does make a difference. Gloves are fine.

The shortcut: Thami Letto

Frying onions and garlic, roasting peanuts and toasting gram flour all take time. Aamna’s Thami Letto jar is that crunchy, savoury topping ready to spoon over rice or noodles. It is not a chilli crisp and it is not hot, just savoury with a gentle warmth.

Burmese salad FAQs

What does thoke mean?

Mixed by hand. It is the word for salad in Burmese, so lahpet thoke is tea leaf salad and gin thoke is ginger salad.

What is the most famous Burmese salad?

Lahpet thoke, the tea leaf salad. It is served to guests and is one of the dishes most people try first.

Are Burmese salads vegan?

Some are. Aamna’s lahpet uses no animal products. Many others use fish sauce or dried shrimp, but you can swap the fish sauce for salt.

What is the crunchy topping on Burmese salads?

Usually a mix of roasted peanuts, fried garlic, crispy onions and toasted gram flour. Lahpet also has fried beans and dal.

Are Burmese salads served cold?

At room temperature. Rice and noodles are cooled first so they don’t turn mushy when everything is mixed.

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