Vegetarian Larb Food

LARB

Steps:

• Cook the ground meat until done and drain.
• Mix the meat with the lime juice, fish sauce, red onions, chili peppers (optional), roasted rice powder and mix well.
• Serve on bed of lettuce and top with sliced green onions and mint leaves.
• May add additional red peppers if you desire it hotter.
• Enjoy.

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.

VEGETARIAN LARB

Steps:

• Heat the sesame oil.
• Sauté the crumbled tempeh. Turn off heat.
• Add soy sauce, lime, chilies, onion, rice powder and mint.
• Play with the proportions. I like mine more lime-y and hot than this but I start out this way.
• Serve on a bed of lettuce and cucumber or eat like lettuce wraps or in Napa cabbage leaves.

TOFU LARB

Steps:

• In a heavy bottomed frying pan, toast the rice on medium-low heat. Toss constantly to avoid burning. Toast until the rice is evenly golden. This takes about 4-6 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Grind to a coarse, grainy powder in a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a small wok over medium. Add garlic and ginger. Sauté for a few seconds until fragrant. Add chilli flakes, lemongrass, half of the shallots, all of the spring onion white and half of the spring onion greens. Sauté for a minute until spring onion and shallots are glazed.
• Working quickly, add coriander root and tofu to the wok. Stir-fry while mixing and breaking up the tofu for a minute until tofu is warmed through. Add cornflour mix, mix well and cook for a few seconds until starting to thicken. Remove from heat and transfer to a large serving bowl.
• Add the oyster sauce, fish sauce, coconut sugar, lime juice and red pepper powder to the tofu. Toss and mix well. Add 2 tablespoons of the rice powder, remaining shallots and spring onion greens. Mix well.
• Garnish with coriander and mint leaves. Serve with lime wedges and extra red chilli flakes.