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| Ingredients |
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2 1/2 cups potato, boiled and sliced
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4 to 5 tablespoons tamarind
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1 large onion, sliced
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juice, thick
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3 green chilies
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3 tablespoons cooked oil
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4 sprigs mint
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Salt to taste
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2 tablespoons roasted gram flour
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1/2 cup fried onion
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| Directions |
| 1. |
Slice potatoes to less than 1/4-inch thickness. Soak sliced onion in water. Cut
green chilies finely. Shred mint, but not too finely. |
| 2. |
Just before serving, mix in a salad bowl the potato, onion, roasted gram flour,
thick tamarind, juice, oil, chilies, and salt. Mix well, add half of, the fried
onion and mint, and mix lightly. Correct salt and dress with remaining fried
onion |
| Top |
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| Ingredients |
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1 pound filleted fish (ngape, ocean perch, or sole)
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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Large pinch turmeric
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1 large onion
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1 bulb lemon grass OR
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1 bunch coriander leaves
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1 tablespoon cooked oil
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1 teaspoon or less roasted chili powder
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2 teaspoons (or to taste) fish sauce
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4 tablespoons fried onions
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1 or 2 limes
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1 heaping tablespoon fried garlic
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| Directions |
| 1. |
Scrape skin off fish, chop and pound fish, or put through electric blender,
with salt and turmeric till a cohesive lump is obtained. Check for bones and
remove. |
| 2. |
Boil fish in 1 lump in water till it rises and floats. Slice 1/4 inch thick,
then cut in 1/4-inch strips. |
| 3. |
Slice onion and soak in water. Slice lemon grass very finely, put in water and
separate rings from each other. OR substitute coriander leaven chopped finely,
or the skin of a lime cut grated, or the skin of a lime cut into finest strips
after clearing pith. |
| 4. |
Just before serving, mix fish, sliced onion, lemon grass(or limeskin or
coriander), cooked oil, roasted chili powder, fish sauce, and half fried
onions. Squeeze lime and mix well. Correct for salt aid dress with test of
fried onion and garlic. |
| 5. |
To make this. salad more attractive, take half the fish after Step 1. Make flat
pellets, dust them with flour, and deep fry them till browned. Cut in thin
strips and mix in with white strips of boiled fish. |
| Top |
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| Ingredients |
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4 or 5 green mangoes
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2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds
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2 medium onions, sliced
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3/4 Cup fried onions
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4 green chilies ,
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1 tablespoon (or to taste) fish sauce
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2 tablespoons cooked oil
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Salt, as needed
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3 to 4 tablespoons shrimp powder
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| Directions |
| 1. |
Peel mangoes and soak in water. Make slivers thus: Hold in one hand and with
-fine knife in other, hack closely in lengthwise cuts. Slice- off hacked
portion very thinly. Continue. |
| 2. |
Squeeze slivered mango dry. Cut green chilies finely, discarding seeds if you
wish. |
| 3. |
Mix baked shrimp paste in small dish with cooked oil till smooth. |
| 4. |
Into a salad bowl, put mangoes, sliced onions, shrimp paste in oil, shrimp
powder, green chilies, sesame seeds, 1/2 of fried onion] and sauce, and mix
well. Taste and add salt as needed. Serve dressed with remaining fried onion. |
| Top |
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| Ingredients |
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2 or 3 long white radishes
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1 tablespoon cooked oil
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6 fresh chilies, red and green
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1 1/2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds
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3 tablespoons fruit vinegar
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1 1/2 tablespoons shrimp powder
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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4 tablespoons fried onions
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| Directions |
| 1. |
Two, hours ahead prepare radishes: scrape clean, trim top and tail, and make
diagonal cuts close together halfway down to thickness of radish. Turn and
repeat diagonal cuts on other side to halfway down. This is a Burmeseway to
retain more radish tang than others may like. Radish may be sliced completely
to give milder salad. |
| 2. |
Let slices dry out in room temperature for two hours Meanwhile, soak chilies in
vinegar. |
| 3. |
Just before serving, rub vinegar, sugar, and salt into radishes, rub hard and
well; pressing and getting into the cuts. Some prefer to soak radish ahead in
vinegar without drying out, but this way gives better flavor. |
| 4. |
Mix with cooked oil, half the sesame seeds, shrimp powder, and half of fried
onion. Mix green chilies also with these ingredients. Dress radishes with rest
of fried onion, sesame seeds, and red and green chilies. |
| Top |
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This method can be used for one vegetable only, in sufficient quantity, or for
several used in smaller quantities dished together, each in its own pile.
Choose vegetables for color and taste contrasts. Any or all of these can be
used as a base: green beans, bean sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, water greens,
okra, winged beans, broccoli, fresh chili peppers, onions. Mixing agents:
shrimp powder, cooked oil, fish sauce, baked shrimp paste, fried onions,
roasted sesame seeds, tamarind juice made thick in quantity.
Quantity of mixing agents will depend on how many vegetables you prepare, and a
guide is given in Step 3 below:
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| Directions |
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1.
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Prepare vegetables, cutting small: beans in diagonal slices, cabbage in fine
shreds, cauliflower and broccoli in small sprigs or flowerlets, bean :grouts
top and tail, okra in 1/2-inch pieces after boiling whole, green chili whole,
and onions halved.
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2.
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Boil each vegetable separately in minimal amount of water, flavored with thick
tamarind juice (2 tablespoons to 1 cup water). Do not overboil. Drain out when
just done, squeeze out water, and keep this separately.
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3.
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For every 2 cups of vegetables, take 1/4 teaspoon baked shrimp paste and mix
with 1 teaspoon cooked oil to a smooth paste. Mix -each vegetable with this;
add 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds lightly
pounded, and 1 1/2 teaspoons shrimp powder to every 1 1/2 cups of vegetables.
Taste and add sauce if more salt is needed. Treat onions and chilies in the
same way.
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4.
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Arrange different vegetables on a long serving dish, in separate piles. Dress
with fried onions.
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| Top |
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| Ingredients |
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3 cups chopped or sprigged
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1 /2 teaspoon roasted chili powder
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bauhinea buds
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4 tablespoons roasted peanuts,
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1 soybean wafer (optional)
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powdered
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1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
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1 lime
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3 tablespoons cooked oil
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Salt to taste
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| Directions |
| 1. |
Trim bauhinea buds of h-and stalks. Wash and steam them or boil in minimal
water till tender. Squeeze water out and chop finely. OR boil broccoli or
collard greens till just tender, drain well, and sprig or cut small. |
| 2. |
Prepare soybean powder by toasting one wafer, cooling it, and pounding it.
Slice tomatoes finely. Heat oil and fry chili powder in it. |
| 3. |
In a salad bowl put the greens, soybean, tomato, oil, chili, peanut powder, and
salt to taste. Squeeze lime, mix well, and correct for salt. |
| Top |
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| Ingredients |
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1 1/2 pounds prawns in shell
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1/2 teaspoon (or to taste)
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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roasted chili powder
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2 tablespoons dried mushrooms
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1 to 2 limes
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1 medium onion
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1 tablespoon (or to taste) fish
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4 tenderest citron leaves*
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sauce
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| *If no citron leaf is available, use limeskin after juice is
squeezed. Clear pith as much as possible and cut into finest strips. If
preferred, limeskin may be grated instead.
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| Directions |
| 1. |
Clean prawns. Shell them without removing heads, but pull out tusk-like bits on
front of head, and with them the dark excretion bag. Trim whiskers. Remove
black line down back by slitting 1/4 inch deep and lifting out. Boil prawns
with minimal water and salt till water is absorbed.
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| 2. |
Drain prawns. Keep heads for flavoring another dish. Take meat and slice neatly
1/8 inch thick. |
| 3. |
Soak mushrooms in water till swelled. Clean well and cut small. Slice onion
finely and wash. Roll citron leaf and cut in finest strips. OR prepare limeskin
as above. |
| 4. |
Mix prawns with mushroom, onion, citron leaf (or limeskin), chili
powder,squeezed lime, and fish sauce to taste.
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| Top |
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Myanmar cuisine is not complete without a side dish of a salad. Practically
anything that can be eaten is made into salads. Meals are centred on steamed
plain rice. with a soup that is taken at the same time and not as a starter as
in Western cuisine. Soup is not only supped but a little dribbled on the rice,
too. There would be a curry with thick gravy, and this too will be mixed with
the rice. A side dish is usually a salad, or it can be stir fried vegetables. A
salty relish rounds up the meal, with blanched or raw vegetables eaten with it.
Eggplant is a vegetable that is meaty, and with a satisfying deep flavour. It
is used a lot in Myanmar cuisine, whether fried, in soups, in curries or in
salads. Also, being naturally oily there is no need for any additional oil,
unless you prefer to mix in a teaspoonful of onion oil (given below). Many
Myanmar Buddhists are vegetarians and this is a favourite dish for them.
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| Ingredients |
| Eggplant Salad (serves two) |
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1.
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2 large eggplants
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2.
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1 onion
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3.
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Lime
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4.
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Salt
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5.
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Onion oil for dressing:
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1/2 an onion
1/2 cup vegetable oil
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6.
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A spoon tip of turmeric powder (optional)
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| Directions |
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1.
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First, prepare the dressing. This onion oil is used in most salads. It is not
easy to fry onions in very little oil, so 1/2 cup is given as a measure
although you will not use up all the oil, which can be used later in cooking
stews or curries.
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2.
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Slice the onion very thinly, and spread out on a plate to dry a bit. Heat oil,
add the turmeric, and fry the onion slices. Watch carefully, and as soon as the
slices turn golden, remove pan from fire first, then immediately remove onion
with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towel. As soon as the oil is cool, add
the onion slices to it and store in a capped jar. This will keep the onion
slices crisp. Turmeric gives a pretty colour to the oil, but can be omitted if
you like.
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3.
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To prepare the salad, slice onion thinly; keep in water until just before use.
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4.
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Grill eggplant until soft. The grilling gives it a delicate smoky flavour,
although you may bake it if you wish.
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5.
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Discard skin, and then mash the softened eggplant with a fork. Squeeze out
water from onion slices, add to eggplant and mix thoroughly with a little salt
and limejuice. Garnish with the fried onion. A very easy dish, and delicious.
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- Mixing agents are mostly given as if already prepared. Refer to above section
whenever needed.
- Amounts for mixing agents are given, but tastes differ especially for salads.
Exact amounts may also mislead due to variability in materials such as sauces,
prepared tamarind juice, chili, etc. That is why the fuction of each agent is
defined in advance. You may vary the mixture according to taste.
- Recpites have been chosen to show the relation between one type of base and
its mixing agents. Sustritution of a similar base can be made easily.
- Assembling of materials is done ahead of time, but mixing all together is
done just before eating. Otherwise, flavors will lose balance by absorption.
This is most important to observe.
|
| Ingredients |
| 1/2 cup rosasted peanuts |
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves |
| 2 cups sliced green tomatoes |
- 3 or 4 green chilies |
| 3/4 cups sliced green totatoes |
- 2 teaspoons (or to taste)fish |
2 tablespoon oil for salad
(extra for frying oions) |
sauce
1/2 lime |
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| Directions |
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1.
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Grind roasted peanuts to powder.
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2.
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Slice tomatoes evenly and finely.
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3.
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Fry onions in extra oil till gold, drain, and keep airtight.
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4.
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Chop coriander and chilies finely.
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5.
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Just before serving mix all ingredients with oil for salad, Add fish sauce by
teaspoon till salty enough, squneeze lime, and mix thoroughly.
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| Ingredients |
| 3 cups finely cut cabbage |
- 1 tablespoon cooked oil |
| 1 large onion, sliced |
- salt to taste |
| 3 green chilies
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- 1 large lime |
| 2 tablespoons shrimp powder |
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|
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| Directions |
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1.
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Cabbage should be cut ahead of time and soaked in water for about two hours.
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2.
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Just before serving , drain cabbage well. Put in salad bowl with sliced onion,
green chilies cut finely, shrimp powder, oil, and a little salt.
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3.
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Squeeze lime over this and mix well. Crush cabbage slightly in mixing. Taste
and add more salt or lime as needed.
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