hand-mixed noodle salad
This is a unique dish and as the name suggests you mix the salad with your hands. It’s served with all the individual ingredients laid out on the table and the fun of eating this salad is making it yourself; mashing the potatoes, feeling the wonderful textures of the noodles and adjusting the garnishes until there is a perfect balance of all the seasoning. I like mine with a generous squeeze of lime juice so it’s deliciously sharp and eat it Burmese style using my fingers.
ingredients
100g basmati rice, cooked
1 teaspoon chilli & dried shrimp oil (page 212)
4 large floury potatoes, peeled & cut into 1cm slices
100g egg noodles, cooked (spaghetti is OK)
100g cellophane noodles, cooked
100g flat rice noodles, cooked
100g rice vermicelli, cooked
150g white cabbage, shredded finely
100g deep-fried tofu
shan tofu, halve the recipe on page 127
garnishes
125ml onion oil (page 206)
1 onion made into crispy onions (page 206)
50g roasted chickpea powder (page 208)
20g dried shrimps, pounded into floss
3 limes, quartered
75g tamarind pulp
200ml hot water
large handful of fresh coriander, chopped
extra fish sauce & dried chilli flakes
method
A couple of days beforehand, follow the instructions to make the Shan tofu. On the day, prepare the garnishes first. Make the crispy onions and oil, roasted chickpea powder, pound the dried shrimps into floss, chop the coriander and cut the limes. Add the hot water to the tamarind and leave for a few minutes to soften. Use a fork to mash the pulp and strain through a sieve to remove any stones or fibres.
Next prepare the base ingredients. Cook the rice as you would normally then mix in the chilli & dried shrimp oil. Cook the different types of noodles, following their packet instructions. Boil the potatoes for 7-10 minutes until they are tender, drain and leave to cool. Finally shred the cabbage and slice the fried tofu and Shan tofu into ½cm slices.
When all the ingredients are prepared, pile them individually on plates or in bowls and serve at room temperature. To make the perfect thote, take a small handful of each of the base ingredients. Add a teaspoon of crispy onions, chickpea powder, dried shrimps and coriander. Then a tablespoon of oil, a drizzle of tamarind liquid and a dash of fish sauce. Finally sprinkle chilli flakes and squeeze some lime juice, and mix well. It should be salty, sour and spicy.
serves: 6
cooking time: 60 mins
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hsa*ba: burmese cookbook recipe
Tags: noodles, salad, thote
comments
Comment from Cho
Time May 22, 2009 at 4:53 am
Hi Rashmi
You can buy chickpea powder from health food shops which have a slightly coarse texture. Just dry roast in a frying pan or wok, stirring until it is a shade darker. Taste a bit - it’s done when it does not taste bitter.
- Cho
Comment from Roberta
Time June 12, 2009 at 1:47 am
I have trying to find a recipe for Burmese Noodle Salad, it has flat noodles, slivered cucumbers, cubed potatoes, fried shallots and onion and a delicious chili type sauce. It’s amazing, I have been eating it for a year now at a Burmese restaurant in Burlingame and SF. The owner will not part with the recipe.
Any ideas on the sauce?
Comment from Cho
Time June 12, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Hi Roberta
It sounds like the sauce/dressing is likely to be fried shallots oil, chili oil, tamarind, fish sauce and perhaps lime juice. Also some pea powder to make the noodles salad bind together. Does that sound about right?
- Cho
Comment from Jacky
Time July 15, 2009 at 2:27 pm
My Grandmother made a dish when I was a child called toothcakes. They look like the round glutenous balls you have in the book, but they were in a coconut mik and had jagery in the middle. Do you know what this is and do you have a recipe?
Comment from hlaing
Time July 25, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Hi, Cho
The lat-toke is a perfect meal in the summer time; it can be eaten as a main meal or as a snack. We all love it. It is a really healthy food!
Many thanks.
Hlaing
Comment from Cho
Time August 19, 2009 at 1:04 am
Hi Jacky
Sounds very much like mon lone yae paw . Check it out and let me know if it is the toothcakes you’re looking for.
Best, Cho
Comment from cheryl callaghan
Time September 4, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Hi Cho
how wonderful to see your recipes of Burmese food! Having been in England since childhood and relatives still in Burma, I had forgotten how wonderful the flavours are. I wanted to know if you have a recipe for Sum buok ( not the correct spelling I’m sure but that is the word sound I remember) It was a rice dish in a sort of gravy usually given to children? I can but hope you know of it!
Many thanks, Cheryl
Comment from Evan
Time November 3, 2009 at 12:14 am
I got the recipe for spicy tamarind dressing from the owners of little yangon in Daly City, CA (this place is amazing). I too have been looking everywhere for it. It’s amazing on noodles or as a dip for just about anything.
tamarind concentrate thinned with hot water
chopped garlic
fish sauce
brown sugar
chili paste (i use sambal)
Comment from Cho
Time November 3, 2009 at 6:32 am
Thanks for sharing Evan
Comment from Rashmi
Time May 21, 2009 at 7:50 am
Hi
Thanks for the lovely recipes..just one small query..a lot of the dishes here call for roasted chickpea powder. Could you explain how to make that?