Burmese Thayet Thee Thoke - Green Mango Salad

Thayet Thee Thoke

Thayet Thee (mango) Thoke (hand-mixed salad) is a common accompaniment to a Burmese meal during the mango season which runs April through June. Look for unripe mangoes that have a dark-green peel and are hard to the touch.

They are sour, slightly sweet and crunchy, and are ideal in a salad.

Strange to say, we hardly ever cooked Burmese food at home while we lived in Burma because our neighbours were only too willing to share their meals with us. One couple, in particular, did not have any children so we were always welcome in their home. Street vendors, selling all kinds of snacks or meals, shouted their wares through our neighbourhoods from early morning throughout the day until late into the night. So we ate and learned to love Burmese food through their wares.

Because the mangoes are so flavourful, very little else is needed in this salad. Typical salad ingredients are deep fried onions, deep fried garlic and chili flakes, roasted chickpea flour, raw thinly sliced onions, a spicy oil such as chili oil or wasabi oil, cilantro and green chilies.

Serve each ingredient separately, like in a salad bar, and mix individual portions as needed. This salad should be eaten as soon as possible after combining the ingredients to maintain their structural integrity.

Hand-Mixed Green Mango Salad

Ingredients

1 small green mango, peeled and julienned

1 small onion, sliced finely

2 heaped Tbsp. deep-fried onions

1 heaped Tbsp. deep-fried garlic

1 tsp. dried red chili flakes
1 tsp. fish sauce

1 tsp. chili or wasabi oil

1/2 cup roasted chickpea flour

2-3 green chilies, minced

2-3 stalks cilantro, minced

salt to taste

Directions

1. Top julienned mango with the rest of the ingredients, one at a time.
2. Mix thoroughly by hand and serve immediately as a salad course.