Miang Kam
I love Miang Kam, which is a Thai partly raw snack slash appetizer. The picture here shows the appetizer without the sticky dark syrup.
Miang kam consists of fresh cha plu (ช้าพลู) leaves that are filled with some roasted coconut shavings and few small pieces of the following ingredients:
- onion
- Fresh small Thai red chilli
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Unpeeled lime
- roasted peanuts
- Dry small shrimp
After filling the leaf, a little coconut palm syrup containing Thai fish sauce (nam pla) is poured on top. Then the leaf is folded and eaten whole. The origin of the name is in “eating many things in one bite”; from “miang” (เมี่ยง), meaning “food wrapped in leaves”, and “kham” (คำ), “a bite”.
The cha plu leaves or the Daun Kadok leaves (as we call it in Malaysia)
Apparently, this leaf is good for relieving toothaches, heal malaria fever, getting rid of worm infection, strengthen weak bodies and eliminating coughs.
If this single leaf can do so much, imagine what the Miang Kam can do. It’s power packed with nuts (protein), ginger (good for getting rid of mucus and it’s a cancer fighting leaf) chili (to warm the body up and get rid of intestinal parasites), coconut (good oil and roughage), onion (treatment of poor appetite, strengthen bones and to prevent atherosclerosis), lime (weight loss, skin care, good digestion, relief from constipation, eye care, and treatment of scurvy, piles, peptic ulcer) and dried shrimp (protein, excellent source of selenium, a very good source of vitamin D and vitamin B12.)
Here’s the recipe but it’s really time consuming to make these lil things cause you can only eat a few at a time so it’s best to buy it from a Thai restaurant or a Thai stall.
Directions
- Dry roast the coconut in a wok on medium high, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Cook until the coconut is medium brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside the amount used for the sauce, and put the rest into a serving bowl.
- Cut up all the ingredients which are not to be put into the sauce into small 1/4″ pieces. Arrange in small bowls, or in piles on a plate.
- Now, for the sauce… In a stone mortar & pestle, pound together the shallots and galangal until fine. Set aside.
- In a small sauce pan, add the water, fish sauce, palm sugar & shallot/galangal mixture.
- Boil over medium heat to reduce the sauce to the thickness shown in the picture below. You’re going to boil off about 1/2 the liquid. Make sure to keep stirring every now and then.
- Add the roasted coconut, remove from heat, and put into a small bowl.
- To eat… Take a leaf and fold the bottom to make a pouch (see large pic above). Put a large pinch of roasted coconut in first, then follow with a piece or two of everything else from the serving bowls: shallots, lime, ginger, peanuts, shrimp and a chili if desired. There is no ‘proper’ order to put them in. Then, add a bit of sauce on top, roll the leaf to make a packet, and eat in one bite. Eating Mieng Kam is like a taste explosion.
Honestly, it’s a lot of work right? Anyways, there’s a lady who sells it really cheap the the SS2 night market every Monday if you are interested in trying it. Her stall is right across the Salvation bookstore, near McDonalds. They sell other types of Thai snacks too like the mango salad, sticky rice with mango and the fruit salad (rojak).
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More info on how to heal your body
John at 6 months
Ethan, almost 2
