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Fermentation Atlas

Tea leaf from Myanmar

Lahpetလက်ဖက်

Young tea leaves are steamed, rolled and pressed into a lined pit for months, where lactic bacteria turn them sour and golden-green. Lahpet is eaten as a salad, not brewed. Made in 6 steps over 27 days – 16 months. The longest step, pack into a lined pit and weigh down, takes 20 days – 12 months (Thar S.P. 2016) and runs at 30 °C (Myat Kyaw Thu 2003). Lactobacillus and Acetobacter do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step20 days – 12 monthsSourced[thar2016][kham2024]Pack into a lined pit and weigh down
Temperature30 °CMeasured[mkt2003]Pack into a lined pit and weigh down
AciditypH 4.4–7.1Measured[bo2020][thar2016]Pack into a lined pit and weigh down
Fully documentedTea leaf27 days – 16 monthsMore tea leafMore from Myanmar

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedTraditional process with no fixed batch size. Nothing goes into the pit but leaf, so the leaf is the whole recipe for the ferment.
Young tea leaves and buds · Young flush of Camellia sinensis var. assamica[thar2016]
No salt · Nothing is added to the pit[thar2016]
No starter · Bacteria and yeasts come from the leaf and the pit[bo2020]
Garlic, chilli, salt, lime juice and peanut oil (to taste) · To dress it for eating[act2022]
Starter: spontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 27 days – 16 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: young tea leaves and buds

Step 1 of 6
Pick the young flush
Time
Five picking seasons from mid-March to mid-November
Sourced
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactobacillus
Acetobacter
Yeasts
Candida boidinii

Output: young leaves and buds.

Flavour
grassy, bitter
Texture
fresh, springy leaf
Colour
bright green

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Lahpet is one of the few teas that is eaten, not drunk. Unlike miang it is pressed in a pit or tank with the air squeezed out, and nothing at all is added until it is served.

Related ferments

Variants

  • A-hlu lahpet, MandalayServed on a lacquer tray with fried garnishes.
  • Zayan lahpetCoarser pre-monsoon leaves, mixed with star fruit.
  • Mogok lahpetOnly the youngest leaves.
  • Re-fermented dried teaSun-dried green tea soaked and fermented the same way.
  • Taw lahpet (Pyay)Made from naywe or kyettet leaves, not tea, soaked for up to 2 years.

Safety

Finished products measured pH 4.35–7.11. A pH above 4.6 is above the limit New Zealand uses for botulism control, so keep seasoned lahpet cold.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli (2 of 20 market samples).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Folklore credits King Alaungsithu in the 12th century. Lahpet was a peace offering between kingdoms and was eaten to accept a court verdict.

  1. [thar2016] Thar S.P. 2016, An exploratory value chain analysis for Burmese pickled tea (laphet), Massey University thesispaper
  2. [bo2020] Bo et al. 2020, bacteria and yeasts in 14 Myanmar lahpet products (amplicon sequencing and isolates)paper
  3. [tms2005] Tin May San 2005, shelf life of fermented tea, thesispaper
  4. [act2022] Aye Chan Thu and Aye Aye Khaing 2022, University of Yangon Research Journal 11(2), pp. 385–394paper
  5. [mkt2003] Myat Kyaw Thu 2003, The mode of formation of Myanmar fermented tea (pit and above-ground trials), thesispaper
  6. [kham2024] Kham et al. 2024, southern Shan State lahpet processingpaper
  7. [tw2005] Thida Wynn 2005, microbes in 20 market lahpet samples, thesispaper
  8. [wp] Wikipedia, Lahpet (history only)wiki