Burmese Food ✦ Introduction
There is a new jar on the kitchen counter that is about to change how you think about rice. This is what Thami Letto is, where it comes from, and why it is unlike anything else in the condiment aisle.
Most condiments do one thing. A hot sauce brings heat. A chutney brings sweetness. A soy sauce brings salt. Thami Letto does something different. It brings everything at once, and it does not just sit on top of your food. It becomes part of it.
Thami Letto is a Burmese rice and noodle topper, inspired by Htamin Let Thok, a beloved street food dish eaten across Burma for generations. You mix it all the way through freshly cooked rice until every grain is coated. You finish with fresh coriander, sliced onion and a squeeze of lime. You eat it immediately. That is the whole recipe, and it is one of the best things you will ever eat for lunch.
What Is In It
Both versions of Thami Letto are built on a base of roasted peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, crispy fried onions and gram flour, all brought together with sunflower oil and warm Burmese spices. The fish version adds sardines and fish sauce for a deep, umami-rich savouriness. The vegan version doubles down on peanuts and sesame for a bolder, nuttier result.
Every batch is made by hand in Hackney, London, by Aamna, who has been making this recipe for over 40 years. Nothing artificial. Nothing processed. Just real ingredients, properly made.
Most toppings sit on the surface of a dish. Thami Letto gets mixed all the way through until every grain of rice carries the full weight of the flavour.
What Makes It Different
Three Things That Set It Apart
- It is a meal, not just a condiment. Mix it through rice and you have a complete, satisfying dish in under five minutes.
- The texture is unlike anything else. Roasted peanuts, toasted sesame and fried gram flour give it crunch, body and depth that no other product in this format delivers.
- It is 40 years of home cooking in a jar. This is not a product developed in a lab. It is a family recipe carried from Burma to London and finally bottled.
How to Use It
The classic method is simple. Freshly cooked rice, two generous spoonfuls of Thami Letto mixed all the way through, topped with fresh coriander, thinly sliced white onion and a generous squeeze of lime. Eat straight away while the rice is still warm.
Beyond rice it works brilliantly on noodles, scrambled eggs, toast with a fried egg, stirred into fried rice at the last minute, and loosened with water and soy sauce as a dipping sauce for dumplings. Once you have a jar on the counter, you will start putting it on everything.
✦ Burmawala Kitchen ✦
Ready to Try It?
Fish or vegan. Both handmade in Hackney. Both ready to use straight from the jar.
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