Lisa's Larb

Darin and I love to order Larb when we go out for Thai food.  Larb is a Southeast Asian dish that is basically a minced meat salad-the dressing is spicy, salty and tangy: a great light dish with very bold flavors.  It's also a dish that is easy to prepare at home as a fast and healthy weeknight meal.  I like to serve it over some greens with cucumbers, and sometimes I will add rice or quinoa to the mix.  It's very versatile and fun to make.  This recipe below is a good starting point.  I am in no means making this in a traditional Thai or Laotian way, which is why I call it, Lisa's Larb.

larbfinished3.jpg

Ingredients:

For the Meat:

  • 1 lb ground meat of your choice (this is chicken)
  • 1 TB Chili Paste

For the Sauce:

  • 1TB Sesame Oil
  • 1/2 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
  • 1 1/2 TB Fish Sauce
  • Juice of 3 Limes
  • 1/2 tsp Chili Paste
  • 1 TB Tamari Sauce
  • 1 TB Dijon Mustard
  • 2 TB Honey
  • 1 tsp Salt

For the Salad:

  • Handful of fresh cilantro
  • Handful of fresh mint
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 1 package of lettuces of your choice
  • 3 scallions
  • 1 TB olive oil

For the Garnish:

  • 2 Kirby Cucumbers
  • 1 handful Toasted Peanuts (I used cashews)
  • 5-10 Cilantro leaves
  • 5-10 Mint leaves
  • jalapeno slices

The first thing you want to do is sauté your ground meat in the chili paste.  

While that is cooking, you can get the sauce prepped.  I like to put all of the ingredients into a liquid measuring cup, because it is deep enough where you can whisk the ingredients together with a small whisk or fork and not make a mess.  So, go ahead and put all of the ingredients into the measuring cup or bowl and whisk away.  Make sure to periodically check on your meat and stir and break up the bigger parts of meat.  When it is cooked through, turn off the heat and keep the meat in that pan.  Drizzle 1/4 of the sauce onto the meat so it can start to soak up the flavors of the sauce.  

Now you can assemble your salad.  Roughly chop your lettuces and fresh herbs, clean and chop the scallions, slice the jalapeños (put some aside to use for garnish) and place in a bowl.  Gently toss with the olive oil.  I only put olive oil because plenty of acidic liquid is going to end up on the greens once I assemble the dish.

Now you could prep your garnish, chop the toasted nuts, peel and slice your cucumbers (I like to cut them diagonally so they could be used to scoop up the meat and they're pretty).

To plate all of this, place your salad on your plates.  Top with the meat mixture and drizzle the sauce al over the meat.  Next, arrange the cucumbers around the plate and sprinkle the remaining garnish over the top of the larb.  

Serve and Enjoy!

This recipe makes enough for two big salads, or you can steam some rice and serve 4 people.

Lisa's Larb Finished Product!

Lisa's Larb Finished Product!

This is the kind of dish that you could really make your own.  It's spicy, tangy, salty and a little sweet-so feel free to add heat or sweet depending on your preferences.  It's a great versatile and healthy dish that you should try if you haven't!