Miang-Kum

Miang-Kum

This thing is super easy to prepare - no cooking required (well - I cheated a little - explanation below.) But what is this thing - Miang Kum? Kum (heeehee) means a bite in Thai. Miang is food that requires chewing - a lot of chewing - before swallowing and/or spitting out.

So here's Miang Kum - except that it's not in Kum (heeehee) yet. We need to assemble it to make it into a bit size treat. It's real simple. You just drop whatever you want to eat (basically everything) onto a leaf. Wrap it up - drop it in your mouth - start chewing - and wait for this wonderful combination of flavors to burst in your mouth. I can't explain how this work. How simple ingredients - uncooked - put together very simply - can produce such delicious treats... You have to try it for yourself.

Ingredients
Any green leaves - I use collard green - we normally use this heart-shaped green leaves which I don't know how they are called in English but I can't find them here in NY.
Diced lime
Diced shallots
Diced ginger
Chopped chilies
Roasted grated coconut
Roasted peanuts
Small dried shrimp
Miang Kum Sauce - I attempted to make this sauce a few years ago. It came out really good but my apartment and all my clothes smelled like dead rabbit for about 2 weeks. So this time around, I went to a Thai grocery store in Chinatown - asked for a sauce for Miang Kum. The store keeper said they didn't have it but I could use Nam Pla Wan - meaning sweetened fish sauce which we use as a dipping sauce for sour fruits like raw mangoes - instead. I bought a can of that for $2.50 and my apartment smells like roses today.

Directions
Clean, chop, dice, roast the ingredients up. Put them in serving containers and serve!