Introducing delighted diners to Burmese comfort food has brought happiness to chef Zaw Mahesh, says Emma Lake
Burma, now known as Myanmar, borders China, Thailand, India, Bangladesh and Laos, all of which have had an influence in shaping the cuisine of the country. However, unlike many of its neighbours, the food of the nation has not travelled widely.
Burma-born chef Zaw Mahesh founded Lahpet in 2018 with Dan Anton, opening their first site in Shoreditch with a second in Slingsby Place in Covent Garden following last year. Since opening, Lahpet has attracted rave reviews from national critics and has been lauded with bringing the cuisine to the general attention of the capital's diners.
The restaurant's name means fermented or pickled tea, the key ingredient in its signature Lahpet Thohk or tea leaf salad (£9), which has been a bestseller across both sites. Mahesh says: "Burma is the only country where people eat tea leaves as food rather than being infused and drunk. We pick the leaves, boil them to kill the bacteria and then they are naturally fermented and pickled.
"The salad is eaten the whole year round. There are a lot of regional variations. In the place I grew up in, Kalaw, Shan State, the salad is very simple, but if you look at urban areas such as Naypyidaw, the capital, they add a lot more ingredients, such as dried shrimp or cabbage. That's what I'm serving – a Naypyidaw-style salad – with lots of textures and fresh ingredients. There's a lot going on."
Lahpet's salad mixes tea leaves with fried beans, cabbage, tomato, dried shrimp, sesame seeds, chili, garlic oil and peanuts. The result is a riot of flavour and texture, simultaneously sweet, sour, salty and fresh with a little bit of heat. Lahpet also offers a ginger salad (£8.50) and an exceptionally fresh green tomato salad (£7.50), all of which Mahesh says must be eaten with fritters.
"Fritters and salad are a must. At home when you make salads you make fritters and you have a dip. Everyone, poor or rich, will have this, and if you don't have a fryer you buy fritters from street vendors – it's everyone's favourite."
Lahpet serves three variations of the fritters with a tamarind dip: shan tofu, split pea or sweetcorn and shallot, with the tofu made in-house three times a week.
Another bestseller is the Burmese national dish of rakhine mohinga (£16.50), a fish noodle soup typically eaten for breakfast, although Mahesh advises that his version – "very heavy in salt and chili, very intense" – is better left for lunch or dinner. A stock is made from white fish bones, with catfish bones used if available to give a creamier finish, along with a substantial amount of lemongrass, fermented shrimp paste, tamarind and liberal amounts of green chilli. It's served with freshly grilled squid, an egg, green beans and a fritter with the addition of lime and coriander.
Meanwhile, a dish of pork belly with a sour bamboo curry (£17.50) is inspired by a dish cooked by his mother. Mahesh chose to use pork belly for the variety of textures it can offer: the fat, the meat and the crispy skin. The fat content is cut through by the sour curry, which is made from stewed bamboo shoots. The dishes are all accompanied by the go-to Burmese condiment, balachaung. There is no set recipe but at Lahpet it is made with fried and pounded dried shrimp, garlic, ginger, chili and paprika. Other incarnations see the shrimp swapped for dried sweet potato to make it vegetarian or for dried pork or anchovies.
Mahesh says: "Historically every house made their own balachaung, but now people get it from a vendor. Before I started restaurants I would get my mum to send balachaung, but now I have one recipe, my recipe, which I think works best given the availability of ingredients. I think this is a winner. Jay Rayner praised our balachaung like crazy."
Rayner is not alone in praising Lahpet – it's been highly praised in almost every national newspaper with diners flocking to its sites. Its popularity is inspiring Mahesh, who says he is developing new dishes and looking at taking inspiration from across Burma's 14 regions.
He says: "When we started it was me and my wife serving food and we were a little unsure about what to offer, thinking will people find tea leaf salad very weird and complain. We weren't very confident but when we served it, they loved it. We started out with seven portions sold in a day and then that built up to 22 portions and more. That builds confidence. Now we have a team of 45 people serving Burmese food over two restaurants, the reviews are great and I'm really happy. I want the team to know we're really happy."
From the menu
- Fritters £3.50 each/platter £10
- Andaman ceviche (sea bass with lime, cucumber, shallot and shrimp floss) £10
- Yellow pea paratha £7
- Hake masala with lemongrass and cassava rosti £16.50
- Shan rice with bream (tomato, pae pot, pickles and tofu puffs) £15
- Lentil chow chow (red lentils, glass noodles, sweet potato and chilli jam) £14
- Tofu nway (rice noodles, silky split pea, tofu soup, pickles, tofu fritter) £14.50
- Cassava cake with jackfruit sorbet and crystallised pineapple £7.50
21 Slingsby Place, London WC2E 9AB
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