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Betel Leaf Herbal Cigars - Miang Kum
Recipe by Nat Thaipun
Try these delicious Betel Leaf Herbal Cigars - Miang Kum
- Steps
- Ingredients
Steps
- Fill a stainless steel bowl ⅓ full of ice and top with water. Pick betel leaves, keeping 1.5cm of the stems, and put into the iced water. Soak for 5 mins. Removes leaves and lay out on paper towels, pat dry and set aside.
- To toast coconut, add shredded coconut into a wide frypan, spread evenly and toast on medium heat until golden brown. Blitz the toasted coconut in a small food processor until roughly coarse. Reserve 20g for the shrimp caramel and place the remainder in a ramekin.
- For the Shrimp Caramel, combine palm sugar and water in a small saucepan and simmer on low heat until the sauce starts to thicken. Then add salt and shrimp paste. Break palm sugar and shrimp paste with a fork, if necessary.
- Simmer until the sauce is a thin caramel consistency. Add 20g of the blitzed toasted coconut, stir and set aside in ramekin.
- To cook the Tiger Prawns, heat up a small wok or small pot with canola oil to 180°C. Whilst oil is heating, prepare the prawns by removing the heads and shells. Cut a small incision on the back of the prawns and devein them. Chop evenly into thirds.
- In a small bowl, combine the cornflour, tapioca flour, salt and pepper. Dust the prawns lightly in the flour and pat off any excess flour - the idea is just to contain the prawn juices, not crispy fry them. When the oil reaches 180°C, add the dried shrimp to deep fry for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel. Then add the prawns deep fry roughly for 2 minutes or until they float. Remove onto a small bowl lined with a paper towel to drain. When shrimp are drained, chop finely and set aside in a small ramekin for serving.
- To prepare the herbs for finely julienned the ginger, brunoise the shallots and birdseye chilli. For the lime, thinly slice them into rounds and then into quarters with the skin on. Roll the finger limes with your palm then do a shallow incision down the finger limes and pop it almost inside out. Place each element in its own separate ramekins.
- To prepare the Betel Leaf Herbal Cigars, cut the long red chillies into 15mm thick rounds, removing the seeds and veins but making sure to keep them like a ring. Set aside. We will use these to hold the rolled cigars together. Have all the elements laid out and make sure the betel leaves are dry.
- To roll the cigars, put ¼ - ½ teaspoon of the caramel down the centre of a betel leaf lengthways. Then top the caramel with a few pieces of the prawns, then add the rest of the elements in this order; lime, ginger, birdseye chilli, shallots, shrimp, peanuts, coconut. Roll the leaves into a cone and secure at the base with a red chilli ring. Repeat this until you have the desired amount and put them on a plate. To finish, garnish the rolled betel leaf herbal cigars with ¼ teaspoon of smoked trout caviar. Serve with finger limes on the side, squeeze finger lime caviar onto cigars before eating the cigars.
