Starter Thai
Miang kham
Meat & fish
Editorially prepared
Thai bai chaplu leaf parcels filled with coconut, peanuts, dried prawns and finely chopped fresh ingredients. A simple sweet-salty sauce brings together sharp lime, warming ginger and the crunchy filling.
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Ingredients
4 servings · metric units
The base recipe makes about 16 small parcels, 4 per person. Increase the ingredient quantities proportionally. For larger quantities, toast the coconut and peanuts in batches and allow more preparation and assembly time. Reduce the sauce to the right consistency rather than increasing its cooking time proportionally.
Substitutions
Substitute amounts are adjusted to your selected servings.
- Instead of large, young wild betel leaves (bai chaplu or lá lốt)large, young spinach leaves
Use one large, flexible leaf per parcel. Spinach is milder and more delicate than bai chaplu; leave it raw and fold gently.
- Instead of palm sugarlight brown soft sugar
Measure the same volume as the palm sugar. The sauce will have a different, more molasses-like flavour; cook only until lightly thickened, not caramelised.
- Instead of fresh galangalfresh ginger for the sauce
Use a similarly small quantity, very finely chopped. Ginger gives warmer heat and does not reproduce galangal's flavour exactly.
- Instead of fresh lemongrassfrozen lemongrass
Choose plain lemongrass without salt or other additions. Once thawed, use the tender centre, chop very finely and measure as for fresh lemongrass.
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Optional ingredients and substitutions
You’ll need
kettle · small saucepan · small frying pan · one hob ring · chopping board and sharp knife · fine grater for the palm sugar · measuring tablespoons and teaspoons · soaking bowl and sauce bowl · two plates for cooling · fine sieve · clean tea towel or kitchen paper · serving platter
Method
0/8 stepsSoak the prawns
Put the dried prawns in a bowl and boil the soaking water. Pour over enough hot water to cover them. Allow about 15 minutes from pouring in the water; start preparing the sauce while they soak. The prawns should soften enough to chew easily. If they are still very hard, leave them in the water for longer. You will drain them before assembly.
15:00Soak the prawns Cook the sauce
Finely grate the palm sugar. Peel the galangal, remove the tough layers from the lemongrass and chop both aromatics almost to a paste. Combine the palm sugar, fish sauce, sauce water, galangal and lemongrass in a small saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, for about 3 minutes until the sugar dissolves and small bubbles appear. From that point, simmer very gently for about 3 minutes, still stirring, until the sauce lightly coats a teaspoon. If it remains watery, cook a little longer, checking every 30 seconds. Do not reduce it to a thick caramel: it will thicken as it cools.
03:00Cook the sauce Cool the sauce
Pour the sauce into a small bowl and leave for about 15 minutes from transferring, until it is no longer warm and falls slowly from a teaspoon. Meanwhile, toast the toppings and prepare the fresh ingredients. Check the sauce again before assembly; if it is still warm, wait so it does not wilt the leaves.
15:00Cool the sauce Toast the coconut
Warm a dry frying pan over a low to medium-low heat for about a minute. Add the coconut and toast for 3–4 minutes from adding it, stirring constantly, until evenly golden and fragrant. If it colours sooner, remove it immediately; if it is still pale, toast a little longer without stopping stirring. Tip onto a plate and spread thinly. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes while you work on the peanuts.
04:00Toast the coconut Toast the peanuts
Remove any remaining coconut crumbs from the pan. Add the peanuts and toast over a medium-low heat for about 5–7 minutes from adding them, stirring frequently, until golden patches appear and they smell distinctly nutty. If they are still pale, continue toasting and check frequently; lower the heat if they darken quickly. Tip onto a second plate and leave for about 5 minutes until cool enough to chop comfortably. Prepare the fresh ingredients while they cool.
06:00Toast the peanuts Prepare the fresh ingredients
Wash the bai chaplu leaves, gently dry both sides and trim off the projecting stalks. Scrub the lime thoroughly under running water, dry it and cut it into roughly 3 mm dice, keeping the peel on and removing any pips. Peel the filling ginger and shallot, then dice them equally finely. If using chilli, wash it and cut into very thin slices. Keep the ingredients separate so they are easy to divide between the leaves.
Prepare the fresh ingredients Finish the filling
Check that the prawns have softened, then drain them in a sieve and pat thoroughly dry. Chop any larger ones. Check that the peanuts have cooled and chop them into small pieces, not a powder. The coconut should also be cool and loose by now.
Finish the filling Assemble and serve
Once the sauce and toasted ingredients are cool, arrange the leaves on a platter. Divide the coconut, peanuts, prawns, lime, ginger and shallot between them; add chilli to taste if using. Spoon a little sauce onto each mound, enough to moisten the filling without running off the leaf. Serve any unused sauce alongside. Fold the bottom edge and sides of each leaf around the filling to form a small parcel that can be held between your fingers. Do not try to seal it completely or overfill it. Serve immediately on the shared platter.
Assemble and serve
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Tips
- Dice the lime, ginger and shallot very finely so each bite contains several flavours rather than one large piece of a single ingredient.
- Chop the galangal and lemongrass almost to a paste. Tough fibres will not soften sufficiently during the short sauce cooking time.
- If the cooled sauce is too thick, stir in warm water a few drops at a time until it falls slowly from a teaspoon again.
- Do not overfill the leaves. If they are small, use extra leaves and divide the filling into more small parcels.
- Very hard dried prawns may need longer soaking. Assemble only when they are easy to chew, allowing extra overall preparation time if necessary.
Storage
Serve immediately after assembling. Keep the washed, thoroughly dried leaves, chopped fresh ingredients, soaked and drained prawns, and cooled sauce separately in covered containers in the fridge at 4°C or below until the following day at most. Cool the coconut and peanuts completely and keep them separately in dry, airtight containers. Do not freeze the assembled parcels.
Timing
Hands-on: 48 min · Cooking: 16 min · Resting: 30 min
The total allows for tasks done in parallel. The individual times can overlap.
