Larb is a tangy, spicy, delicious dish from Laos and Northern Thailand. It is made of ground meat, seasoned with lots of lime juice, ground chiles, and fish sauce.
Course Main Dish Recipes
Cuisine Thai
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 5 minutesminutes
Additional Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 35 minutesminutes
Calories 535kcal
Author Robin Donovan
Ingredients
1tablespooncooking oil
2 to 3shallotsthinly sliced, divided
2poundsground pork
2tablespoonsroasted rice powdersee note for making your own
½ to 1teaspoonsugar
Ground hot red chileadd to taste according to your tolerance level for spicy food and the spiciness of your ground chile—anywhere from ¼ teaspoon to 1 or 2 tablespoons
3tablespoonsfish sauce
Juice of 4 limes
2tablespoonschopped fresh mint leavesplus additional whole mint leaves for serving
Several lettuce leavesfor serving (optional)
Instructions
Heat a bit of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add half of the shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.
Add the meat and cook, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until browned and cooked through, about 7 minutes. If there is a lot of liquid in the skillet, cook a bit longer, until most of the liquid evaporates.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the rice powder, sugar, ground chile powder, fish sauce, lime juice, and the chopped mint leaves. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
Stir in the remaining shallots and the mint leaves. Serve immediately or cool to room temperature before serving along with lettuce leaves for wrapping.
Notes
1. To make the khao khua (roasted rice powder), heat a skillet over medium-high heat. When it is hot, reduce the heat to medium and add ½ cup uncooked sticky rice (or glutinous rice). Cook, stirring frequently and shaking the pan to keep the rice in an even layer covering the bottom of the skillet, until the rice grains are golden brown and aromatic. It can take a while—anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes—but you don’t want to raise the heat too high and risk burning the rice. When the rice is toasted, transfer it from the skillet to a clean, dry bowl and let cool for a bit. Transfer the rice to a spice grinder or pestle and grind it to a coarse powder. You will end up with about 1/3 cup of the rice powder, which is more than you need for this recipe. Place the extra in a jar, cover it, and save it for another recipe.2. You can use any ground meat you like. Pork, duck, and chicken area all common. I like to use a 50-50 combination of pork and turkey.