Recipe: Faux Fermented Tea Leaf Salad

I've ordered this dish every time I've gone to a Burmese restaurant...and I never get tired of it.  Fermented tea leaves have a distinct green and tart taste which borders on bitter -- the fried crunchy things and squeeze of lemon are a perfect foil.

However, I hate having to go out to get my tea salad fix.  After a lot of Googling, I came across Absolutely Monica's recipe for tea leaf salad, which I've tweaked to my own liking here.  It's a great facsimile for those who either 1) don't have access to Burmese restaurants; and 2) don't have access to fermented tea leaves.

WARNING:  This is NOT a quick salad to make, unless you've already prepped the tea leaves and toasted all the nuts and crunchy things in advance.

Burmese Tea Leaf Salad (with 'Faux Fermented' Tea Leaves)
Adapted from Absolutely Monica

Makes 2 huge portions or 4 smaller portions

For 'faux fermented' tea leaves (this makes more than you will need for this recipe):
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1/4 cup plus 2 T green tea leaves
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup safflower oil (or other neutral-tasting oil)
1 T plus 1 t Maggi seasoning
1 T plus 1 t fish sauce (I used Red Boat brand; also like Flying Lion and Three Crabs brands)

For the rest of the salad:
1 romaine lettuce heart, sliced into ribbons
15 cherry tomatoes, quartered
8-10 cloves of garlic, sliced and then fried until light brown
2 T fried onions (yeah, I cheated and used the canned stuff)
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts
1/3 cup roasted salted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Juice from 1/3 or 1/3 lemon (around 1/2 to 1 T, or to taste)

Special equipment:  Blender or food processor; strainer

For the tea leaves:
Bring the tea leaves, vinegar and water to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until soft.  Strain mixture and squeeze leaves to remove as much liquid as possible.  (You can line the strainer with cheesecloth or a coffee filter to make this easier.)

Set aside 2 T of tea leaves.  Place the remainder of the tea leaves along with the sesame oil, safflower oil, Maggi and fish sauce in a blender and blend over a low speed until leaves are finely minced.  Scrape out and mix back in reserved tea leaves for extra texture.

(NOTE:  I used a Vitamix and ended up making a tea leaf emulsion.  :/  Make sure to use a low speed to avoid this!  If you use a food processor, add tea leaves first, then add liquid in a slow stream while processing, and scrape the sides often.  Alternately, you could mince the tea leaves by hand; whisk the liquid ingredients by hand, then combine the liquid mixture with your tea leaves.)

For the salad:
OPTIONAL:  I bought pre-roasted peanuts and seeds, but re-roast them over dry heat to enhance the flavors.  To do this, heat a dry 6" pan (or a little smaller) to medium, then place peanuts on the pan.  Stir or toss intermittently, until fragrant and golden brown.  Remove from heat and repeat with sunflower seeds and sesame seeds.

To serve, make piles of each of the ingredients on a platter.  Spoon about half of the tea leaf mixture onto the platter; save the other half for later.

Just before serving, squeeze the lemon (or drizzle the lemon juice) over the salad and toss together, evenly distributing all the ingredients.  Enjoy!

NOTE:  You can customize this salad by adding any number of crunchy fried things.  Fried lentils and soybeans are also traditional but harder to find unless you are close to an Asian market.