Larb Gai Lahb Gai Food

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

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.

LARB GAI

Steps:

• Start by mixing together the ingredients for the sauce. Taste test and adjust to your liking. Then set aside for now.
• Heat the oil in a pan over high heat and add the minced chicken. Cook for about 5 minutes while stirring to separate the chicken, until chicken is cooked through.
• When the chicken is cooked through, add chili flakes, chopped shallots and scallions. Give it a good mix.
• Pour over the sauce. Mix, and let sit on the heat for 15-30 seconds. Then remove the pan from the heat.
• Mix in cilantro, mint and peanuts. Taste test, and adjust seasoning if needed.
• Serve Larb Gai as it is, with a side of rice, or in lettuce cups. Include a side of fish sauce, lime wedges and chili flakes.

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.

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.

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.