lahpet

L1A1H4P3E1T1
/ləˈpɛt/

noun

A dish, popular in Burma, consisting of pickled or fermented tea leaves (encountered in the West especially as tea leaf salad).

Scrabble 11

Meanings

nounlahpet (uncountable)

alternative laphet · alternative lehpet · alternative lephet

  1. uncountableA dish, popular in Burma, consisting of pickled or fermented tea leaves (encountered in the West especially as tea leaf salad).

    Occasionally a piece of fruit may be provided as well. The second way is the appearance of lahpet (pickled tea) – a bittersweet, astringent and savoury food that's unique to Burma.

    2019, MiMi Aye, Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    [How long the tea] leaves stay underground is largely determined by the price the leaves would sell for; in other words, a laphet producer waits until the price is favorable enough to justify the effort of emptying out the pit all at once. According to locals, the best quality laphet is made in the Shan State hills [... which] area also produces black and green tea, for drinking.

    2005, Fresh Cup: The Voice of the Specialty Coffee Industry, volume 14, page 45

    When satisfied with the level of fermentation, transfer to refrigerator. Lahpet will keep, refrigerated, for several months. Lahpet is popular in Myanmar, where it is considered a national delicacy […]

    2015, Adam Elabd, Fermenting Food Step by Step: Over 80 step-by-step recipes for successfully fermenting kombucha, kimchi, yogurt, vinegar, and kefir, Penguin, →ISBN, page 7

Origin

  1. Proto-Sino-Tibetan*s-la
  2. Burmeseလက်ဖက်“fermented or pickled tea”
  3. Englishlahpet

From Burmese လက်ဖက် (lakhpak, “fermented or pickled tea”). The first element is ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la and hence a distant doublet of tea.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Thai เมี่ยง, ใบเมี่ยง
  • เมี่ยง (mîiang)Burmese dish
  • ใบเมี่ยงBurmese dish

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with lahpet

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

lahpet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lahpet

MLA

“lahpet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lahpet. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lahpet,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lahpet.

Source: lahpet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.