Betel leaf bites with toasted coconut and palm sugar sauce (Miang kham)

1. Toast the desiccated coconut in a dry frying pan, stirring, until golden; toast the peanuts the same way.

2. For the sauce, pound the 10 g dried shrimp with the shrimp paste in a mortar, bring to the boil in a small pan with the palm sugar, water and fish sauce, and simmer for 8-10 minutes until thick and syrupy like honey; leave to cool.

3. Cut the lime, peel and all, into tiny cubes, dice the shallots and ginger small, and slice the chillies into thin rings.

4. Wash and dry the betel leaves and arrange them round a large platter; put the coconut, peanuts, dried shrimp, lime, shallots, ginger and chilli in small bowls in the middle.

5. Everyone folds a leaf into a little cone, fills it with a pinch of each filling and drizzles over a little sauce.

6. Eat it whole, in one bite.

Tip: "Flavour wrapped in one bite" – sweet, salty, sour, hot and slightly bitter at once, the classic start to Thai hospitality. Betel leaves are sold in Asian shops; if you can't find them, use iceberg lettuce or Chinese cabbage leaves.