Miang Kham Sauce (organic?, raw?)

This Miang Kham sauce from the cookbook " Fresh Vegan Kitchen " is a vegan alternative (not raw) to the traditional version with shrimp and fish sauce.

Use in the kitchen

Miang Kham is a dish that is prepared in Thailand and Laos as a welcoming bite or as a snack for family and friends. The ingredients always vary a little and range from sweet to spicy. A traditional Miang Kham recipe contains onions, red or green chili peppers, ginger, garlic, limes, roasted coconut, unsalted peanuts or cashews and small dried shrimps. The ingredients can be placed on a spicy betel leaf, rolled up and eaten as a kind of wrap. The betel leaves can be replaced with alternatives that are more easily available in Western countries, such as boiled cabbage leaves (kaalampii or white cabbage), simple lettuce leaves (e.g. romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, red chicory, etc.) or sometimes even spinach leaves. Miang Kham sauce is eaten with it. Depending on the recipe, the sauce has a spicy, sweet and sour and salty taste. Traditionally, a shrimp paste and small dried shrimps are used for the Miang Kham sauce. Alternatively, a vegan version with the same taste can be prepared. This goes perfectly with a healthy, aromatic Thai salad with pomelo and walnut, for example. Due to the ingredients it contains, the vegan Miang Kham sauce is not a raw food product either.

Your own preparation

A vegan Miang Kham sauce is quick and easy to make yourself, tastes extremely refreshing and has a pleasant spiciness. It is prepared with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, red chili peppers, shallots, garlic , Thai ginger and coconut blossom sugar. All of these ingredients are crushed with a mortar and boiled with water. After cooling and sieving, add roasted coconut flakes and a low-salt soy sauce. You can find more detailed information on preparation in the recipe Miang Kham sauce with Thai ginger and coconut flavor.

Vegan recipe for Thai rice salad with Miang Kham sauce

Ingredients (for 4 people): 150 g whole grain rice, 1 red bell pepper, 1 red onion, 1 large carrot, 250 g red cabbage, 2 spring onions, ½ bunch of fresh coriander, 1 lime for serving, 200 ml Miang Kham sauce (if possible, made from organic ingredients).

Preparation: Prepare wholegrain rice according to the instructions on the packet. Remove the seeds from the bell pepper and cut into cubes. Cut the onion into thin slices. Grate the carrot into strips. Finely slice the cabbage. Cut the spring onion into thin rings. Finely chop the coriander. Mix all the prepared ingredients with the rice and mix with half of the Miang Kham sauce. Cut the lime into wedges. Pour the remaining Miang Kham sauce over the vegan Thai rice salad, decorate with lime wedges and enjoy.

Vegan recipes with Miang Kham sauce can be found under the note: " Recipes that have the most of this ingredient ".

Purchasing - Storage

Most of the ingredients for a vegan Miang Kham sauce can be found in well-stocked supermarkets such as Coop, Migros, Denner, Volg, Spar, Aldi, Lidl, Rewe, Edeka, Hofer, Billa or in organic supermarkets such as Denn's Biomarkt and Alnatura. Asian shops or online retailers are also very good places to go, for example for lemongrass, fresh Thai ginger or kaffir lime leaves. A ready-made Miang Kham sauce is available online, although there are very few suppliers and, according to our research, no vegan version.

Where can you buy betel leaves? Betel leaves are used for the traditional Miang Kham. The best place to buy Thai pepper leaves in fresh or dried form is online.

The availability of Miang Kham Sauce varies depending on the size of the store, catchment area, etc. Our recorded food prices for the DA-CH countries can be found above under the ingredient image - and by clicking you can see their development at various suppliers.

Storage tips

Homemade Miang Kham sauce will keep for a few days in the fridge. Alternatively, you can fill it into jars while it is still hot and pasteurize it in the jar, then it will keep for longer. Add coconut flakes and soy sauce if necessary.

Ingredients - Nutritional values - Calories

Miang Kham sauce, according to our recipe, is rather low in calories with 162 kcal per 100 g. 100 g of the sauce contains 7.5 g fat, 23 g carbohydrates and 2.2 g protein. ¹

The ingredients of this Miang Kham sauce are mostly healthy. Pay attention to the amounts of coconut blossom sugar and soy sauce. You can also leave out the coconut flakes or replace them with seeds. Then the sauce also contains much less saturated fatty acids. ¹

Manganese is contained in the sauce at 0.85 mg/100 (42% of the daily requirement). Manganese is an essential trace element for the human organism. As a co-factor for various enzymes, it plays an important role in carbohydrate metabolism and connective tissue. A similar amount of manganese is present in the red Thai curry paste (0.96 mg/100 g; 48% of the daily requirement). Manganese is common in plant-based foods, especially in germs and the outer layer of grains. Good sources of manganese are wheat germ (13 mg/100g) or hazelnuts (6.2 mg/100g). ¹

Miang Kham sauce contains 295 mg of potassium per 100 g (15% of the daily requirement). Preserved, chopped tomatoes have similar amounts (293 mg/100g). Potassium is found in most foods and is even better covered in a natural and balanced vegan diet than in a mixed diet. Good sources of potassium are herbs, legumes and nuts, such as white beans (1795 mg/100g) and vegetables, such as spinach (560 mg/100g) or lamb's lettuce (460 mg/100g). ¹

1.8 mg of iron are present in 100 g of Miang Kham sauce (15% of the daily requirement). This important trace element is involved in the transport of oxygen in the blood, the storage of oxygen in the cells and in energy metabolism. Similar amounts are found in coconut milk (1.6 mg/100g) or soy sauce (tamari) (2.4 mg/100g). ¹

The complete ingredients of the vegan Miang Kham sauce, the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values with other ingredients can be found in our nutrient tables. In the article Nutrients explained you will get a detailed insight into the topic.

Health effects

Miang Kham sauce contains a variety of different ingredients. Our recipe owes its taste to the Thai ginger and the coconut aroma from coconut flakes.

Thai ginger ( Greater galangal, Alpinia galanga, Siam or galangal root) is a popular spice in Thai cuisine. Its taste is very different from the well-known ginger ( Zingiber officicale R.), as it is more reminiscent of pine needles and has a subtly bitter, spicy and lemony note. It is said to have anti-allergic, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, anti-carcinogenic, gastroprotective, anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity properties, among other things due to its active ingredient 1'-acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA). ²

Coconut flakes basically consist of fat, more specifically saturated fatty acids. The increased intake of saturated fatty acids increases LDL cholesterol and thus contributes to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly as a result of arteriosclerosis. ³ With a generally balanced, healthy diet, consuming small amounts of coconut products is not a problem.

Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects

If the dosage is too high, Thai ginger can cause stomach problems. If you do not feel well after taking it, you should definitely seek medical advice.

The consumption of coconut products should be enjoyed with caution due to the high proportion of saturated fatty acids. Further information on the health aspects can be found under the link to coconut oil (coconut oil, coconut fat).

A coconut allergy is rare. However, the increased consumption of coconut products is leading to more cases of allergic reactions. Children are particularly affected when they are given coconut milk as a cow's milk substitute or coconut oil is applied as a body lotion. It has also been found that a cross allergy can occur with walnuts, sesame, macadamia, almonds and cashews. For more information, see the ingredient desiccated coconut.

Ecological footprint - animal welfare

The _CO2 footprint of a food depends on various factors. The type of agricultural production (conventional vs. organic), average or seasonal, regional or foreign production, import by truck, ship or plane, different types of packaging and whether the goods are fresh or frozen all play a decisive role.

When purchasing ingredients, look for certifications for fair trade and organic production.

Miang Kham sauce consists mainly of unprocessed plant-based ingredients, which can generally be produced in an environmentally friendly way and have a small CO ₂ footprint or water footprint. The global average water footprint of vegetables is only 322 l/kg; a fraction of that of animal products. ¹⁰ Onions have a CO ₂ footprint of around 0.2 kg CO ₂ eq/kg, peppers 0.6; ⁹ kaffir lime leaves 0.16 kg CO ₂ eq/kg, dried lemongrass 2.61 kg CO2eq/kg and ginger 0.42 kg CO ₂ eq/kg. ⁸ These are all small CO ₂ footprints.

The situation is different with the ingredients coconut and soy:

Although the climate database Carboncloud gives a CO ₂ footprint of only 0.64 kg CO ₂ eq/kg for coconut blossom sugar, ⁸ this value is suspiciously low when compared with other calculations for coconut products. Coconut products are associated with a number of ecological and social problems. You can read more about this under the ingredients coconut blossom sugar or coconut oil.

The situation is similar with soy sauce. Although a CO ₂ footprint of 1.23 kg CO ₂ eq/kg is not dramatically high, ⁸ the ecological footprint of soy sauce can be very high and ecologically problematic depending on the growing area and the method of growing the soy. It is therefore particularly important to pay attention to organic and fair trade certificates for these ingredients, coconut and soy.

For detailed explanations of various sustainability indicators (such as ecological footprint, _CO2 footprint, water footprint), see our article: What does the ecological footprint mean?

Animal welfare - species protection

In order to protect flora and fauna, it is advisable to use products from organic farming. In order to produce coconut products as economically as possible on a large scale, forests are often cleared to create monocultures of coconut palms. Changing land use releases enormous amounts of greenhouse gases and at the same time destroys very important species-rich habitats. Unfortunately, the same applies to many soy plantations. You can find more detailed information under the following ingredients: coconut oil or soybeans.

An information brochure published by WWF showed that 29 percent of the total biodiversity footprint is attributable to soy. This is due in particular to the extremely species-rich countries of origin and the enormous area under which soy is cultivated. ¹¹

Worldwide occurrence - cultivation

Information on the worldwide occurrence, cultivation and harvesting of all ingredients for the Miang Kham sauce can be found directly in the ingredients above the recipe. The sauce is particularly popular in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand and Laos. In Bangkok you can buy ready-made Miang Kham bags packed in plastic bags. They contain all the necessary ingredients for a snack. Miang Khams are very popular in northern Thailand, but also in central Thailand. This dish is eaten mainly in the rainy season, as betel leaves (cha phlu) are always available during this time.

Industrial production

According to our research, the industrial production of Miang Kham sauce is (still) extremely rare. It is much more common to make the sauce yourself and juggle the ingredients a little.

Further information

Although not included in the Miang Kham sauce, betel leaves are an important ingredient in the traditional dish Miang Kham. Piper sarmentosum (Thai pepper leaf) belongs to the pepper family (Piperaceae) and is widely used in East Asian cuisine. It is often confused with betel pepper ( Piper betle), which is primarily used in Ayurvedic medicine.

What effect do betel leaves have? The essential oils, alkaloids, flavonoids, lignans and steroids contained in betel leaves have anti-inflammatory, antineoplastic (effective against malignant tumors) and antipyretic effects. Studies on the effects of betel leaves describe their antibacterial, antidepressant, anti-atherosclerotic and hypoglycemic properties as well as their use in combating osteoporosis. The literature also documents the ethnomedicinal use of Piper sarmentosum for treating colds, gastritis and rheumatic joint pain. ⁴ Are betel leaves healthy? Due to their described properties and as part of a balanced diet, the consumption of Piper sarmentosum leaves can certainly be considered healthy.

How does betel pepper work? Piper betle is known as a traditional medicinal plant in Asian countries. The beneficial effects of the leaves and products made from them are used to treat bad breath, cuts, injuries, inflammation, coughs caused by colds or digestive disorders. The effects of betel pepper are attributed to the wide range of bioactive compounds contained in the extracts, essential oils and leaves, including polyphenols and terpenes. ⁵ Betel pepper leaves also have antibacterial and antifungal properties. ⁶ In contrast to the leaves, caution should be exercised when consuming the fruit of the plant. Epidemiological studies from Asia have found a strong link between regular chewing of the betel nut (areca nut) and the occurrence of oral cancer, as well as an increased risk of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. ⁷

Alternative names

The Thai sauce is also known as "Mieng kham", "Miang kam", "Miang Kum" or "Mieang kham". Miang Kham translates roughly as "eating many things in one bite" or "one bite-size wrap" in English.

Misspellings such as "Mieng kum", "miamkam", "Miamg kham", "mian kham", "miang khan", "mien kam", "mieng kam" may occur.