Mieng Kum

Mieng kum is a do-it-yourself Thai appetizer that consists of spinach leaves wrapped around an assortment of fillings. For my mieng kum, I set out an array of little dishes containing the following:

1. Toasted dried coconut shreds, toasted over medium heat for a few minutes until brown
2. Dried fried garlic, the kind that comes in a plastic packet in the "ethnic" grocery section
3. Chopped organic lemon, rind and all, in tiny pieces
4. Chopped roasted peanuts
5. Finely chopped fresh onion, preferably red
6. Several washed and dried large spinach leaves
7. Finely chopped fresh ginger (optional, for me, because I never seem to have fresh ginger)
8. Tiny dried shrimp (also optional, since I never have these either)
9. Sauce: 1/4 cup honey, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, a couple drops fish sauce (to compensate for the missing shrimp), a dash of dried ginger (to compensate for the missing fresh ginger) and enough rice wine or white wine to make it runny when whisked together.

To assemble, put a little bit of everything on a spinach leaf, roll it up, and consume in one bite.