“The word larb is a loaded concept. Almost everyone in Thailand knows its meaning, but for each person it can signify something totally different,” writes chef Kris Yenbamroong. Sometimes transliterated as laab or laap, the herby meat salad, which arrived in Thailand from Laos comes in many forms—like those with ground pork or mushrooms. But “the two basic, extremely broad schools of seasoning are the Lao-style in Isaan (lime, spicy, fish sauce, rice powder) and the Lanna-style in Northern Thailand (earthy, salty, bitter herbs),” Yang explains.
This larb recipe is seasoned in the Lao-style with hot Thai chiles, toasted and ground rice for nuttiness, tangy lime juice, and lots of fresh mint and cilantro. Most of the ingredients are widely available, but it’s worth shopping at an Asian market for glutinous rice and good quality fish sauce. For the ground meat, use thigh or a mix of dark and white meat, not ground chicken breast, which would be too dry for this preparation.
If you find yourself rushed on weeknights, consider prepping the roasted chile and toasted rice powders ahead of time. You’ll have extra rice powder after finishing this dish—save it for another round of larb, or use it to garnish a salad, bread a chicken cutlet, or thicken the broth of a soup or stew. The chile powder can be used anywhere you might use crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne. Serve the larb as soon as it comes off the heat with cabbage (or lettuce leaves), and khao niao (sticky rice) or plain white rice, and a couple of other Thai dishes like green papaya salad.
This recipe was adapted for style from ‘Night + Market’ by Kris Yenbamroong. Buy the full book on Amazon or Bookshop.