Miang Kham
This recipe requires a great deal of preparation time, but it's well worth it--especially if you've eaten a tasty miang kham before and have a craving. There's nothing like it. The blend of coconut, ginger, fresh betel leaves, peanut, lime and chile is a fantastic flavor and one that goes very well with the American palate.
While the easiest way to enjoy miang kham is to have it at your local Thai restaurant, it takes so much effort to make that many restaurants are not likely to offer it. ImportFood.com is a recommended supplier in Saveur Magazine.
Ingredients
For 4 Person(s)
Ingredients for Filling
- 3/4 Cup Grated Coconut (this is often available in the baking section of most supermarkets)
- 2 Small Limes, unpeeled (try to get limes with thin skin), cut into small cubes
- 6 Tablespoons Shallots, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 6 Tablespoons Roasted Peanuts
- 6 Tablespoons Small Dried Shrimps
- 5 Fresh Thai chile peppers, cut into small slivers
- 4 Ounce Fresh Ginger, peeled and cut into small cubes
Ingredients for Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Shrimp Paste, Roasted until fragrant
- 2 Ounce Fresh Galangal, cut into slivers and roasted until fragrant (see note below)
- 1/4 Cup Grated Coconut, roasted in a low-heat oven until lightly brown
- 4 Ounce Small Dried Shrimps
- 2 Ounce Shallots, Peeled and coarsely cut
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Fresh Ginger, Sliced
- 8 Ounce Palm Sugar (broken into small chunks)
- 2 Tablespoons Table Sugar
- Salt For Seasoning
Method for Miang Kham
Method: Sauce
In a mortar and pestle, pound together the shallots and galangal until fine (note about galangal: it's ok to use dried galangal as long as it's placed in a dish of lukewarm water for a few minutes to reconstitute). Add roasted shrimp paste, ginger, coconut and dried shrimp, and continue pounding until smooth. Remove the mixture and place in a pot with 1.5 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, add palm sugar and table sugar, then reduce heat and simmer, wait until reduced to 1 cup or a bit less. Taste, and adjust by adding a bit of salt. Remove from heat and transfer to a small bowl.
Wrapping Leaves (click here to see a photo)
The choice of what leaves to use is up to you. Some use lettuce or spinach leaves due to ready availability, but to get an authentic flavor you should use the fresh cha-phloo leaves offered by ImportFood.com. These leaves are also known in English as Betel Leaves, or Piper Sermentosum. In Vietnamese language, these leaves are labeled as La Lop.
Serving
Roast the coconut in a low-heat oven until lightly brown. Spoon the roasted coconut into a serving plate. In separate small bowls, arrange each filling ingredient listed above. With a fresh wrapping leaf in hand, fold it once across the bottom then sideways to form a pocket. Place about 1 teaspoon roasted coconut in the leaf together with a small amount of each filling to create a bite-sized quantity. Spoon the sauce on top, pop in your mouth and enjoy!
Pound into paste
Move to a pot with water
Serving miang kham
Fold betel leaf
Fold again to make a pocket
Coconut into the pocket
Add other bits pour sauce on top
mian kham
Ingredients Ready
Peel and cut ginger into little cubes
Toast coconut flakes in oven
Ingredients ready
Roasting sliced galangal
Roast shrimp paste
Pound shallots and galangal
add ginger coconut dried shrimp shrimp paste
Street Vendor Videos
Reviews
Comments (18)
-
ImportFood
PermalinkDear Carolynn, there is an old tradition in SE Asia of using betel leaves together with betel nut and other ingredients to create a stimulant. We have described that in detail here in our feature story about betel nut chew. The betel leaves in miang kham are in no way like a drug, but the recipe is a heavenly flavor.
-
Anonymous
PermalinkI also use coriander leaves and pickled garlic in the filling. It give 9 fillings and 9 being an auspicious number in Thailand it works for me.
-
Anonymous
PermalinkI love adding fresh pink grapefruit chunks for an additional filling option, gives you that POW in your mouth sensation! Yummy
-
LindaE
PermalinkGrapefruit sounds very interesting. Hard to find Miang Kham in Indiana, but Thai Taste in Indianapolis has it on their menu - my absolute favorite. (Well worth the two hour drive.)
-
Selma
PermalinkFor a Mardi Gras party, I served Miang Kham in food colored buns to resemble a Mardi Gras king cake. I had this on a trip to Thailand and could hardly wait to serve it to our supper club group. I added broken pig skins as an extra ingredient just in case some could not eat shrimp. I could not get betal leaves so I used large spinach leaves which tasted great also. Now that I know I can order betel leaves from ImportFood.com, I will be set to serve this again. This appetizer was a great hit.
-
Jorge Rodriguez
PermalinkI was in Bangkok last week and was served the delicious Betel leaf as an appetizer. I was so impressed that I took a picture and cant wait to make it at home and impress my wife and guests. This is where I had this plate plus 6 other authentic Thai dishes: Baan Khanitha Thai Restaurant at 69 south sathorn rd . I was fortunate to remember to get one of their match boxes to remember their name/address. I strongly recommend this restaurant by far the best one I visited in my entire week at Bangkok.
-
-
-
-
First timer roasting shrimp paste.
PermalinkOkay. This recipe was good. I was skeptical when things got super stinky in my kitchen but I kept going and the end result was delicious and reminded me of home. HOWEVER. It needs to come with a warning. DO NOT roast shrimp paste in your house! Thais have outside kitchens for this reason. I’ve been told my whole life from my native born thai mom that I shouldn’t cook thai food inside my house and I always did anyway and never really had an issue. UNTIL TODAY. That stuff is stinky. It will not leave. I’ve aired out my house. For HOURS. HOURS PEOPLE! Fans. Check. Boiled vinegar and citrus. Check. It lingers. And it is RANK.
Great ingredient. But I refuse to open the jar inside let alone cook it inside my home ever again.
Like I said. Delicious. But a warning needs to be added about the shrimp paste or noobs like me will ruin their homes with this deliciously potent stuff.
The end. Getting off soapbox.
Leave your comments
Post comment as a guest