Laarb Gai Food

LARB GAI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook chicken over medium heat until no longer pink, 8-10 minutes, breaking it into crumbles; drain. In the same skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots and chiles; cook and stir until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the cooked chicken, lime juice, fish sauce, chili sauce, brown sugar and Sriracha. Cook and stir until heated through. Stir in cilantro and mint. Serve with rice and, if desired, lettuce leaves.

THAI LARB RECIPE (LARB MOO ลาบหมู)

Steps:

• First step is to make the toasted rice (khao kua ข้าวคั่ว).
• Heat a frying pan on low heat, toss in the uncooked Thai sticky rice (no oil). Stir continuously, kind of like you're roasting peanuts or coffee. Toast the rice until it turns from white to golden yellow, almost to the point where it looks like brown wheat. It will also be very fragrant and smell almost like popcorn. It took me about 15 minutes or so.
• Once the rice is finished toasting, and has cooled off a bit, put it into your stone mortar and pestle. Pound the rice until it turns into a coarse powder (a blender or food processor will also work fine). Put your toasted sticky rice powder in a bowl aside.
• Add 300 grams of minced pork to a small sized saucepan with a handle. Fry the pork, breaking it into small minced pieces, until it's fully cooked all the way through. For best flavor, leave all the oils that come out (but if you want to be healthier, you can also drain the pork oil, and add in a splash of water instead). Take the pork off the heat.
• Leaving the pork in the same pot, add 1 heaping tablespoon of the toasted rice powder into the pork. Also toss in ½ - 1 tablespoon of chili flakes.
• Add a pinch of sugar, ½ tablespoon of fish sauce, and squeeze in the juice from 1 - 2 limes (I used about 1 ½ full limes, but I like it quite sour).
• Give the pork and the seasoning a quick stir.
• Peel and slice the shallots, finely mince about 5 green onions and a few culantro leaves (if you have them), and just pluck about 20 or so mint leaves off the stem. Throw everything into the saucepan with the pork.
• Give the larb moo a good mix, making sure all the spices and dressing coats the pork.
• Taste test. See if it needs more fish sauce for saltiness, lime juice, or chili flakes. Get it the way you want it.
• Dish it out onto a plate and garnish with more mint leaves, Thai sweet basil, and culantro.

THAI LARB GAI (CHICKEN WITH LIME, CHILI AND FRESH HERBS)

Steps:

• To make roasted rice powder, heat a wok or skillet over high heat. Add raw rice and cook, stirring often, until rice is toasted and dark brown, but not black, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from wok and set aside to cool. Grind to a coarse powder in a mortar, blender or coffee grinder; set aside.
• To cook chicken, heat a wok or skillet over medium-high heat. When very hot, add 2 tablespoons water, then add chicken, stirring constantly to break up any lumps. Cook just until cooked through, about two minutes, then transfer to mixing bowl. While chicken is just warm, add remaining ingredients (except for garnishes) and roasted rice powder. Mix gently but thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasonings. Mixture should be tangy, salty and lightly spicy.
• Spoon onto serving plate and surround with mint, lettuce and cucumber. Serve with rice. If serving with sticky rice, pinch some off, mold into a small ball and dip into larb, scooping up a little of each ingredient. Or scoop larb into lettuce leaves.

LAAB GAI (TURKEY LAAB)

Steps:

• Stir the tamarind paste into the ground turkey in a large bowl and let stand for 15 minutes.
• Heat a medium pan to high heat and add the oil. When you see the first wisps of white smoke, saute the garlic and shallot until translucent, about 1 minute. Fold the turkey into the pan and stir-fry until the turkey is just cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Reduce to low heat then stir in the sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, and chile powder and mix well. Adjust your flavors as necessary to your taste.
• Fold in the mint, onion, roasted rice powder and scallions until well combined. Serve with carrot sticks, long beans, lettuce and cabbage. Garnish the laab with more scallions, red onion and rice powder.

LARB GAI: THAI CHICKEN SALAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Combine all salad dressing ingredients together in a cup or bowl. Stir to dissolve sugar. Set aside.
• Combine all the cold salad ingredients in a large salad bowl (arugula/salad greens, mint, green onions, basil, red pepper, and cucumber).
• If using rice, see instructions below. Set aside.
• Place 1 to 2 tablespoons oil in a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, chicken, and lime leaf (if using).
• As you stir-fry, add the fish sauce. Also, add a little water if the pan becomes dry. Stir-fry until chicken is cooked-about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Transfer the hot chicken to the salad bowl with prepared salad ingredients. Pour over the dressing and toss well.
• Finally, add the chopped nuts or ground toasted rice.
• Taste test the salad, adding more fish sauce if you prefer it saltier or more flavorful. Add more dried crushed chile if you prefer it spicier. If too bitter, add a little more sugar.
• Garnish with more mint or basil leaves or with some edible flowers.
• Serve immediately while the chicken is still warm.
• Place uncooked rice in a dry wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. As rice heats up, shake the pan back and forth or stir with a spoon. After 6 to 8 minutes, the rice will turn a light golden brown and begin to pop (like popcorn).
• When it begins to pop, transfer to a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar. Grind down to a coarse powder. (A coffee grinder works well for this. Simply wipe out with a clean, dry cloth, then pour in your rice and grind. For pestle and mortar, use a firm, circular grinding motion.)
• Use in your recipe and enjoy.

LARB GAI - THAI CHICKEN SALAD

Steps:

• Grill or broil the chicken until just cooked through. Allow to cool and remove skin and bones. Chop the meat very finely. Use only the tender white portion of the lemon grass and cut into thin slices. Slice out the mid-ribs from the lime leaves and shred the leaf very finely.
• Put the chopped chicken meat in a bowl and mix with the chopped lemon grass, shredded lime leaf, roasted rice powder, cayenne, scallions, mint, red onion and cilantro. Combine fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. Pour over the chicken mixture and combine well.
• Serve with cabbage leaves and garnished with extra mint. To eat, pick up a cabbage leaf and "pinch" or roll up some chicken salad in it.

THAI MINCED CHICKEN SALAD

Steps:

• Roughly chop the lemongrass, lime leaves, red chillies, garlic and ginger, then throw them all into a processor and blitz until everything is very finely chopped together. Mince the chicken breasts into tiny pieces.
• Heat a wok over a high heat and add the vegetable oil and the sesame oil. Throw in the lemongrass mixture and fry briefly before adding the minced chicken and the chilli powder. Stir-fry the chicken for 4 mins then splash in the fish sauce. Turn down the heat a little and allow the chicken and fish sauce to bubble together for another 4 mins, stirring, then add the chopped red onion and cook for another min.
• Remove from the heat, pour over the lime juice and toss in the herbs. Serve with the salad veg and a lime wedge on the side.

LARB GAI - SPICY THAI CHICKEN SALAD

Steps:

• Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat, no oil necessary.
• Add chicken, stir until cooked through.
• Remove from heat, drain excess liquid.
• Add fish sauce and lime juice.
• Toss all together with cilantro, onion, shallots, mint, cayenne, rice powder, and ground chile/garlic paste.
• Adjust seasoning to taste.
• Serve immediately over lettuce leaves or thinly sliced cabbage.
• Garnish with cilantro sprigs.