lahpet

English

Alternative forms

• laphet, lehpet, lephet

Etymology

From Burmese လက်ဖက် (lakhpak, “fermented or pickled tea”). The first element is ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la and hence a distant doublet of tea.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ləˈpɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

lahpet (uncountable)

1. A dish, popular in Burma, consisting of pickled or fermented tea leaves (encountered in the West especially as tea leaf salad).
   • 2005, Fresh Cup: The Voice of the Specialty Coffee Industry, volume 14, page 45:

     [How long the tea] leaves stay underground is largely determined by the price the leaves would sell for; in other words, a laphet producer waits until the price is favorable enough to justify the effort of emptying out the pit all at once. According to locals, the best quality laphet is made in the Shan State hills [... which] area also produces black and green tea, for drinking.

   • 2015, Adam Elabd, Fermenting Food Step by Step: Over 80 step-by-step recipes for successfully fermenting kombucha, kimchi, yogurt, vinegar, and kefir, Penguin, →ISBN, page 7:

     When satisfied with the level of fermentation, transfer to refrigerator. Lahpet will keep, refrigerated, for several months. Lahpet is popular in Myanmar, where it is considered a national delicacy […]

   • 2019, MiMi Aye, Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

     Occasionally a piece of fruit may be provided as well. The second way is the appearance of lahpet (pickled tea) – a bittersweet, astringent and savoury food that's unique to Burma.

Translations

Burmese dish

• Burmese: လက်ဖက် (my) (lakhpak), လက်ဖက်စို (my) (lakhpakcui)
• Mon: လက်ဖက်
• Northern Thai: ᩉ᩠ᨾᩮᩥ᩠᩶ᨿᨦ
• Shan: ၼဵင်ႈယမ်း (shn) (nāeng yám)
• Shwe Palaung: မျံမ်, မျံမ်အီုမ်
• Thai: เมี่ยง (th) (mîiang), ใบเมี่ยง

Anagrams

• laphet, paleth