We’ve discovered a delicious new salad. It’s known as  Yuzana- a salad from Burma,

It’s an intriguing kind of upscale cole slaw with lots of different dimensions. Super skinny slices red and green cabbage,  julienne of carrot, Honey toasted cashew nuts, peanuts and sesame seeds. chunks of tomato, garlic and chilli, crispy fried chickpeas and  split dal and then there’s something else. It tasted quite earthy, a little fermented. I thought it might be some kind of mushroom.

We asked the lady of the house and she said she didn’t know what this ingredient was called, just that it was Burmese, so we asked her if we could have a look and she came out of the kitchen with a sachet on a plate. It was very dark, soft and  a little bit stringy and we were none the wiser until we got back to our hammocks and googled Yuzana.

Yuzana are a Burmese company that pickle tea leaves. The chilli seasoned tea leaves are pickled then buried underground where they ferment. No wonder there’s such a flavour impact. There have been some dodgy write ups about their ethics and ingredients – the dye used was banned everywhere that knew about it and it would be difficult if not impossible to get in Ireland so I was thinking ‘pickled kombu’. I think that would deliver that intense umami that a little bit of Yuzana does.

It’s definitely one to try when we get home.

Here’s a run down of the ingredients that I noted. I’m sure it would be a delicious combo whichever way you interpret it.

Red cabbage – very finely sliced

green cabbage – very finely sliced

carrot – super skinny julienne

tomato – a few meaty chunks

green chill chopped pretty small

garlic- thinly sliced

a handful of toasted peanut, sesame seeds and cashews

deep fried legumes – chickpeas, split peas, fava beans

lime juice, olive oil and salt

about 1 tbs of the mysterious pickled tea leaves

Put on a big bowl and toss everything together.