I HAVE been enjoying my immersion into Burmese or Myanmar food the last few weeks, thanks to Myat and Potatoes, a kitchen project set up to ease the plight of Myanmar workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic.

It had a modest start with Mohinga or Burmese laksa, which hit the spot with many who tasted it.

Then the delivery menu expanded to La Phet Thoke, a popular tea leaf salad; Ngan Gyi Thoke, noodles with a dry pork curry; Tofu Thoke, chickpea tofu in tamarind dressing; and Mon Phat Thoke, cold rice vermicelli tossed with spicy fish floss, garlic oil and crispy shallots, among other ingredients.

Mohinga (RM21.90) has rice vermicelli steeped in a spicy and sweet fish broth with a tangy lift from lime. There are fragrant notes of lemongrass, turmeric and ginger and heat from dried chilli and black pepper.

The Burmese laksa is topped with fish floss aromatic with lemongrass, chickpea crackers, chilli flakes, fishcake, egg, chopped long beans and fresh coriander. It’s a laksa to love for the delicious fish broth to slurp up to the last drop, with the fish floss (much like fish serunding) stirred in it and dried chilli flakes to up the spiciness.

Best of all is the chickpea crackers, which are super-thin and crispy. They should be bottled up and sold – so addictive!

La Phet Thoke (RM17.90) is distinctive for its generous portion of green fermented tea leaves in a salad of shredded purple and white cabbage, tomatoes, fried dried shrimps, garlic, crunchy broad beans, lentils and sesame seeds, tossed in a dressing of taucheo (salted, fermented soybean paste), light soy sauce, garlic oil and lime juice.

The tea leaves, from Myanmar, have been fermented for six months. Anything fermented is full of good bacteria and this is certainly a healthy salad, refreshing and tasty.

There’s lots of crunch from the beans and seeds, amidst a blend of piquant dressing stirred into the salad, and a slight astringent taste from the flavoured tea leaves. You could also bite into the two whole cili padi garnishing the salad for added punch.

My favourite Burmese dish must surely be the Tofu Thoke (RM13.90). Cubes of silky chickpea tofu, fried dried shrimps, fried shallot and garlic, chilli flakes, sesame and roasted chickpea powder are brought together in a balanced sweet and sour tamarind dressing with kaffir lime leaf.

Here’s a delightful gluten-free, soy-free chickpea tofu, which is dense enough to be a meal in itself and satisfy those on a high-protein diet. I recommended both the La Phet Thoke and Tofu Thoke to a friend on a vegan diet and she liked them very much.

Ngan Gyi Thoke (RM15.90) is a dry-style noodle dish, done traditionally with thick, long rice noodles and served with a dry pork curry. As the noodles are not available here, loh shi fun (short rice noodles) is used.

The noodles are topped with chickpea and peanut powder, fish cake, chopped long beans, coriander, egg and chickpea crackers. La Phet dressing brings all these together, and a tub of Mohinga soup comes with it, in case you need the noodles to be moist.

I also tried Balachaung, a spicy and delicious side dish of dried shrimps fried with dried chilli, a bit of belacan, garlic, ginger and shallots. You can enjoy it with rice, noodles or even sprinkled on toast. A bottle of Balachaung is RM13.90.

Myat and Potatoes is based in Petaling Jaya. Call or WhatsApp 012 220 0837 to order. Delivery of meals is done on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. It also offers local favourites like claypot loh shi fun, bitter gourd mee hoon and yam cake (advanced order). – September 4, 2021.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.