Letpet

Lahpet

Lahpet thohk, Burmese tea leaf salad or pickled tea salad is a favourite national dish.
Place of origin	Burma
Associated national cuisine	Burmese cuisine
Main ingredients	fermented tea leaves oil salt

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. Burma is one of very few countries where tea is eaten as well as drunk. Its pickled tea is unique in the region, and is not only regarded as the national delicacy but plays a significant role in Burmese society. 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, the 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 (လက်ဖက်သုပ်).

Tasters at a lahpet stall, Mandalay

Lahpet dressed with garlic and chilli

Fried garnish

Lahpet for sale at a market in Mandalay

Lahpet thoke and gyin thoke (ginger salad)

Tea is native to Myanmar, as in Bangladesh, Northeast India, Laos and China, both Camellia sinensis and Camellia assamica, and grown mainly on the hills in northern Shan State around Namhsan in the Palaung substate of Tawngpeng, but also around Mogok in Mandalay Division, and Kengtung in southern Shan State. Zayan leaves, which make up about 80% of the harvest, are best picked in April and May before the onset of the monsoons, but they can be picked until October. Another old adage goes thus: "For good lahpet let the Palaung take their time up the hills".