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

Tok Maach - Green Mango Fish

Tok Maach

Tok (sour) Maach (fish) takes me back to my childhood in Burma, where this dish was prepared by my mother using Topshe Maach/Mango Fish and green mangoes. Mum would slice the flesh of the green mango and immerse the slices in the gravy to create a tart and lip-smacking Tok Maach.

This Tok Maach I made was inspired by a recipe I found in a food group on Facebook called Flavours from Undivided Bengal. What caught my attention in this recipe was that the mango slices were blended to a paste rather than leaving them whole. The resulting gravy was thick and full of flavour. For those of you who don't have access to Facebook, I have reproduced the recipe with my adaptations and adjustments.

Any white fish is suitable, although rui maach/grass carp or a whole fish like topshe/mango fish taste the best. Serve with hot, steamed rice for a comforting meal.

Tilapia Fillets Cooked with Slices of Raw Mango

Tok Maach

This dish is to die for! In Rangoon (Burma/Myanmar) this was made with whole Topshe maach (Mango Fish). I used filleted fish pieces which is not the same at all! Mum used to make it with Topshe maach, potatoes and wedges of green mangoes. A Bangladeshi market opened up in our neighbourhood and I found frozen raw mango in packages. I used about 10 slices in a pound of fish and it came out too tangy. Perhaps the unsweetened, dried mango slices in Mango Fish are a better bet or the amount of raw mango slices should be cut down drastically and ground to a paste before adding to the gravy.

Mango Fish

Mango Fish

This dish is to die for! In Rangoon (Burma/Myanmar) this was made with whole Topshe maach (Mango Fish). I used filleted fish pieces which is not the same at all! Mum used to make it with Topshe maach, potatoes and wedges of green mangoes. I've used dried mango pieces here.

Red Lentils with Mango and Eggplant

Ingredients:

1-½ cups red lentils (masoor dal)

3 cups water

2 Oriental eggplants, cut in bite-size pieces and tossed with salt

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

½ tsp. black mustard seeds

2 dried red chilies

2 tsp. ginger paste

1 (3 oz.) pkg. dried unsweetened mango slices

or 1 green mango, peeled, deseeded and chopped

Salt to taste

1 tsp. ghee or melted butter

cilantro, chopped

2–3 whole green chilies

Directions:

1.    Wash lentils until water runs clear.

2.    Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat & add mustard & dried chilies.

3.    When mustard seeds start to sizzle, add lentils, salt, mango and water.

4.    Cover and cook on medium heat until lentils are tender.

5.    Adjust salt to taste, add eggplant and ginger paste.

6.    Cover and cook until eggplant pieces are cooked.

7.    Garnish with ghee, cilantro and whole green chilies.

8.    Transfer to a serving dish and serve with steamed rice or naan.