Let Thoke is Burmese salad dish which I have presented as a one-pot. Thoke or Thouk is a salad. Adaptations of this dish are found in Chennai originally created for immigrant Burmese workers. The specialty of this dish is that it uses more than one type of noodles. I have used rice and glass noodles, Ramen or vermicelli noodles can be added too. The thing about this recipe which makes it unique is the way I cook the mince meat. It makes all the difference.
My food word for this recipe would be colourful.
When you go out shopping look for;
Beef mince, can use meat instead
Red onions
Garlic
Soya sauce
Pepper powder
Peanuts
Chilly powder
Spring onions
Eggs
Raw mango
Noodles
Lime
Coriander leaves
Red chilly flakes
Fish sauce
Salt to taste
The recipe would be;
At first prepare the meat. Take half a kg of mince, wash well and set aside. Finely chop two large red onions and eight pods of garlic. In about three tbsp of warm oil, lightly fry the onions and after a minute throw in the chopped garlic. Once the mix is light golden, add the mince. Stir fry for two mins, add salt to taste, four tbsp soya sauce and two tsps full pepper powder. Once you have added the flavouring everything, cover with a lid for the next eight mins or so. Take off the lid, taste for perfect cooking of the meat and flavours and keep the cooked mince aside. The consistency is thick and semi dry and the colour is blackish.
Now get to the garnish.
Let us work the peanuts. In a small wok, warm one tsp oil, add one fourth tsp salt and red chilly powder respectively. Throw in a handful of lightly toasted skinned peanuts and toss for another min. While it is warm and crisp, crush it in a pestle and mortar. The final texture should be kind of coarse.
Next chop about six stems of green spring onions. Set aside.
Also finely chop the white bulbs of the same spring onions. In a small warm wok, toss them for a min. Set aside.
Length-wise cut about ten pods of garlic. Once again in a little bit of warm oil fry the garlic till light brown. Keep aside.
Boil two eggs, chop and set aside. This step is optional.
Finely chop one small raw mango with the skin and set aside.
Till now all that you have set aside is your garnish.
Finally let us get to the base. Just before serving, steam a packet of raw rice noodles and a packet of glass noodles and drain well.
To serve, pour the mince on the noodle and then top with all of the chopped and fried garnishes you have prepared. Lastly sprinkle lime juice and some red chilly flakes for tang and spice. A few drops of fish sauce add the final elan.
