Burmese Tomato Salad with Toasted Peanuts, Crispy Garlic and Sesame

Salt the tomato wedges lightly and set them in a colander over a bowl for 10 minutes to draw off excess water — save the tomato liquid that collects underneath.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds mixed ripe farmers-market tomatoes, cut into thick wedges
• 1/3 cup neutral oil, for frying
• 6 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced into rings
• 1/3 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or light soy sauce for a vegan version)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes, or 1 fresh red chili, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
• Fine sea salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Salt the tomato wedges lightly and set them in a colander over a bowl for 10 minutes to draw off excess water — save the tomato liquid that collects underneath.
2. Warm the neutral oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat, add the sliced garlic, and fry slowly for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until the slices turn pale gold. Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a plate; they crisp as they cool.
3. Add the shallot rings to the same oil and fry 4 to 5 minutes until deep golden and crackling, then drain them alongside the garlic. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the now deeply aromatic frying oil.
4. Crush the peanuts coarsely with the flat of a knife or a few pulses in a mortar — you want rubble, not powder, so they hold their crunch against the wet tomatoes.
5. Whisk together the reserved frying oil, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chili flakes and 2 tablespoons of the saved tomato liquid until the sugar dissolves.
6. Tip the drained tomatoes into a wide bowl, pour over the dressing, and turn them gently with your hands so every wedge is coated without bruising.
7. Just before serving, fold through most of the peanuts, sesame seeds, crispy garlic, fried shallots and cilantro, then scatter the rest over the top for contrast.
8. Serve immediately at room temperature, while the fried alliums are still audibly crisp against the cool tomatoes.
9. Burmese cooking treats salad — thoke — as a serious course rather than a side, built on a signature logic of layering: something raw, something sour, something fried, something crunchy, all bound with seasoned oil. The fried garlic and shallot oil that anchors this dish is a pantry staple in Myanmar kitchens, made in batches and spooned over everything from noodles to lentils. Late-August tomatoes, heavy and split-skinned from the market, need almost nothing else, and the technique of saving their drained juice for the dressing means nothing of that peak flavor is thrown away.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 255 kcal
• Protein: 6g
• Fat: 19g
• Carbohydrates: 17g
• Fiber: 4g
• Sugar: 9g
• Sodium: 690mg