Larb ลาบ Thai Spicy Minced Meat Salad
My mother and her sisters made this at home and at my grandmother's house, and it was always part of our regular meals. I grew up eating this and I still love it. As a small child I picked up what was easy to eat and enjoy, and the lime was the first thing I understood and loved. The toasted rice powder, the fresh mint, the saltiness underneath everything. Simple. Flavorful. Always part of the table. Make this tonight, squeeze the lime generously, and put it in the center of the table with sticky rice and raw vegetables alongside. It is one of the best things I know how to eat and I am glad you are going to try it.
Equipment
- Dry heavy skillet or wok
- spice grinder or mortar and pestle
- Wok or large heavy skillet
- Large mixing bowl
- Sharp knife and cutting board
- Citrus juicer
- Small bowl
- Airtight glass jar for storing any leftover khao khua powder.
- Serving plate wide and shallow. Larb is plated flat and spread out so all the herbs, shallots, and meat are visible. It is a beautiful dish and deserves to be shown properly
- Small plates for accompaniments for the raw cabbage wedges, long beans, and fresh herbs served alongside for scooping
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork chicken, or beef (or a combination)
- 3 shallots very thinly sliced
- 3 stalks lemongrass tough outer layers removed, very finely sliced (tender inner part only)
- 4 green onions thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons khao khua toasted rice powder see recipe
- 1 tablespoon dried chili flakes prik bon
- 1 handful fresh mint leaves
- 1 handful fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 kaffir lime leaves very finely sliced (stems removed)
- 3 fresh Thai bird's eye chilies sliced (optional for extra heat)
- 1 splash of water or broth 2 to 3 tbsp
- 4 cabbage wedges to serve
- 4 long beans or green beans raw, to serve
- 2 cups cups steamed sticky rice or jasmine rice to serve
- 2 fresh limes cut into wedges, to serve
Instructions
- Make the khao khua first: Before anything else, make your khao khua if you have not already. Toast half a cup of raw sticky rice in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly for 8 to 10 minutes until deep golden and nutty. Cool completely then grind to a coarse powder in a spice grinder or mortar. Set aside. This step can be done days ahead and stored in a jar, and once you have it ready, the rest of the recipe moves very quickly.
- Mix the dressing: In a small bowl mix together lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Taste it, it should be bright, sour, salty, and just barely sweet. This is the dressing that brings the whole dish to life so make sure you love it before it goes anywhere near the meat.
- Cook the meat: Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat with just a thin film of oil. Add the minced meat and break it apart as it cooks. Add a small splash of water or broth,2 to 3 tablespoons and keep the meat moving. Cook until just done and still moist, not grey and dry. Remove from heat and let cool for just one minute.
- Dress the warm meat: While the meat is still warm, not hot, not cold, just warm transfer it to a large mixing bowl. Pour the dressing over immediately and toss well. Add the khao khua and dried chili flakes and toss again. The warm meat will absorb the dressing beautifully, this is why the timing matters.
- Add the shallots and herbs: Add the shallots, lemongrass, green onions, kaffir lime leaves, and fresh chilies if using. Toss everything together gently but thoroughly. Now add the mint, cilantro, and sawtooth coriander, all of it, generously. Toss once more. Taste and adjust,more lime for brightness, more fish sauce for salt, more chili flakes for heat. Keep adjusting until every element is exactly right.
- Plate and serve immediately: Transfer to a wide, shallow serving plate and spread it out so all the herbs, meat, and shallots are visible and beautiful. Arrange raw cabbage wedges and long beans alongside for scooping. Serve immediately with sticky rice or jasmine rice and fresh lime wedges. In Thailand larb is eaten with the hands, a ball of sticky rice pressed between the fingers, used to scoop up the meat and herbs. That is the way.
Notes
Toast the rice first and do not skip it. This is the instruction that separates larb from a minced meat salad with lime on it. The toasted rice powder adds a nutty, slightly smoky texture and absorbs the dressing in a way that holds the whole dish together. Eight to ten minutes of stirring in a dry pan, then ground in a mortar to a coarse powder. Not fine dust. Coarse. The texture is as important as the flavor. Make more than you need and keep the extra in a small jar. It lasts for a week and makes every subsequent larb faster.
Dress the meat while it is still warm. The warmth is not a preference, it is the technique. Warm meat draws in the lime and fish sauce. Cold meat sits under them. The moment the meat is just cooked through, it goes into the bowl and the dressing follows immediately. This is the step that determines whether the larb tastes of lime and fish sauce or whether it tastes like something that has been dressed with lime and fish sauce. They are different things.
The lime juice goes in last and fresh and generous. Squeeze it directly over the warm dressed meat. Three tablespoons is the starting point. Taste after adding and squeeze more if the sourness is not immediately clear. Larb should be sour. Not aggressively, not overwhelmingly, but clearly and pleasingly sour from the first bite. If it is not, add more lime. My mother never measured the lime. She tasted and added until it was right. That is the correct approach.
The raw vegetables alongside are not a garnish and are not optional. Cabbage leaves, long beans, cucumber. They are how larb is eaten, used to scoop and hold each bite. The crunch of the raw vegetable against the soft, warm, herby meat is part of what makes this dish satisfying in a way that the meat alone cannot be. Put them on the table. Use them.
Nutrition
Serving: 2ozCalories: 340kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 28gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 890mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4g
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