Mian Kam ~ Thai flavored Nasturtium rolls

The Nasturtium's are coming away, looking large & luscious with all of their brightly colored flowers to brighten up salads.

During Sunday's Foraging Workshop in Wellington I was talking about how my kids fill Nasturtium leaves with wild edilbes to make little bite sized parcels with the leaves. A lady said "oh yes, I remember these now, my Mum (who is Thai) makes these, I think she packs Nasturtium leaves with toasted coconut, peanuts & shrimp paste, rolls it up & eats it like that"...something along those lines.

OMG the excitement of a new recipe idea for a wild plant that grows abundantly in my garden!! So I've been looking this up online & have found references to a Thai Street food named Mian Kam, or Miang Kam.

It seems to be traditionally made with betelnut leaves, packed with little nibbles, but yes you can also substitute with Nasturtium leaves. Recipes I find include filling your leaf with a combination of:
~ roasted peanuts
~ toasted shredded coconut
~ tamarind paste
~ shrimp paste
~ fish sauce
~ lime juice
~ ginger
~ shallots
~ capsicum
~ coriander
~ chilli

wowowowowow sounds SO delicious, and as Thai food is one of my all time favorite cuisines, I am definitely going to be playing around with these ingredients wrapped in Nasturtium leaves!

If you happen to have a tradition or actual experience of eating or making Mian Kam, I'd love to hear your advice & tips too!

p.s. if you want to learn about foraging for & using Nasturtium in your food & medicine, you'll find it in my Hot Season Foraging Guide: