Thoke (Myanmar Mixed Salad — Tomato and Potato Version)

About This Recipe

Thoke is Myanmar's fundamental salad category — the word simply means 'to mix' or 'mixed salad' — and it encompasses dozens of dishes from the beloved laphet thoke (tea leaf) to mango thoke, glass noodle thoke, banana flower thoke, and the version presented here: tomato and potato thoke, the most accessible entry point into Burmese salad culture. What unifies all thoke is the dressing: fried garlic oil, toasted sesame seeds, dried shrimp, fish sauce, lime juice, and fresh chilies — a combination that works beautifully with virtually any vegetable or starch. Tomato thoke (a-hthar thoke) uses ripe, juicy tomatoes combined with boiled potato, red onion, green chilies, and crispy fried garlic, creating a salad that is simultaneously acidic from the tomatoes, earthy from the potato, savory from the fish sauce, and nutty from sesame. It is one of Myanmar's great everyday dishes — quick to make, deeply satisfying, and eaten as both a side dish and a light meal.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 3 mediumripe tomatoes, diced or cut into wedges
• 300 gpotatoes, boiled in salted water and cut into cubes
• 1 mediumred onion, thinly sliced
• 2fresh green chilies, thinly sliced
• 4 clovesgarlic, thinly sliced
• 3 tbspneutral oil
• 2 tbspdried shrimp, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsptoasted sesame seeds
• 2 tbspfish sauce
• 2 tbsplime juice
• 1 tspchili flakes
• 1 handfulfresh cilantro

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the garlic oil

   Heat oil in a small pan over low-medium heat. Add sliced garlic and fry gently 4-6 minutes until golden and crispy. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon. Reserve both garlic and oil.

2. 2

   Toast dried shrimp

   In the same pan, add dried shrimp and toast briefly 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat.

3. 3

   Combine vegetables

   In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, potato, and red onion.

4. 4

   Dress the salad

   Pour garlic oil over the vegetables. Add fish sauce, lime juice, and chili flakes. Toss gently to combine.

   Add dressing while the potato is still slightly warm — it absorbs the garlic oil much better than cold potato.

5. 5

   Add remaining ingredients

   Add toasted sesame seeds, dried shrimp, and green chilies. Toss again.

6. 6

   Garnish and serve

   Top with crispy fried garlic and fresh cilantro. Serve immediately alongside steamed rice or as part of a larger Burmese meal.

Variations

• •

  Mango thoke: replace tomato and potato with julienned unripe green mango and fried fish flakes.

• •

  Glass noodle thoke: boiled glass noodles with the same dressing, dried shrimp, and a fried egg.

• •

  Banana flower thoke: shredded banana blossom (blanched to remove bitterness) dressed the same way.

Storage

Thoke is a fresh salad and should be eaten within 1-2 hours. The tomatoes release liquid over time and the salad becomes watery. Do not refrigerate the dressed salad.

Frequently Asked Questions