Larb is a spicy salad based on minced chicken, beef or pork. It's popular in Vietnam and Thailand, and regarded as the national dish of Laos.
Larb gai (spicy chicken salad)
Not for the faint-hearted.
- 45 mins cooking
- Serves 4
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Ingredients
Larb gai (spicy chicken salad)
- 2 tablespoon long-grain white rice
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh lemon grass
- 2 fresh small red thai chillies, seeded, chopped finely
- 2 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh galangal
- 750 gram chicken mince
- 1 lebanese cucumber (130g), seeded, sliced thinly
- 1 small_piece red onion (100g), sliced thinly
- 100 gram bean sprouts
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh thai basil leaves
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh coriander leaves
- 4 large_piece iceberg lettuce leaves
- 1/3 cup (80ml) lime juice
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoon kecap manis
- 2 tablespoon peanut oil
- 2 teaspoon grated palm sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek
Method
Larb gai (spicy chicken salad)
- 1Place ingredients for dressing in screw-top jar; shake well.
- 2Heat dry wok; stir-fry rice until lightly browned. Blend or process (or crush using mortar and pestle) rice until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- 3Heat oil in same wok; stir-fry lemon grass, chilli, garlic and galangal until fragrant. Remove from wok. Stir-fry chicken, in batches, until changed in colour and cooked through.
- 4Return chicken and lemon grass mixture to wok with about one-third of the dressing; stir-fry about 5 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly.
- 5Place remaining dressing in large bowl with chicken, cucumber, onion, sprouts and herbs; toss gently to combine. Place lettuce leaves on serving plates; divide larb salad among leaves, sprinkle with ground rice.
Notes
Although we used sambal oelek, you can use hot vietnamese chilli paste or, for less heat, a mild sweet thai chilli sauce.
