Thai Pork Laab (Larb)
An iconic salad of ground meat from northeastern Thailand. The flavours of laab is fresh, bright and spicy. Super Thai food beginner-friendly and very quick and easy to make!
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 12 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1.5 Tbsp white glutinous rice or jasmine rice *
- 2 Tbsp water
- 250 g/9 oz ground pork (preferably not lean)
- 3 Tbsp finely sliced shallot
- 1/4 cup mint leaves, rough chopped if leaves are large
- 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1 small green onion, chopped
- 2-3 leaves sawtooth coriander, rough chopped
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1-2 tsp chili flakes, or to taste
Instructions
- 1
Put glutinous white rice or jasmine rice in a dry sauté pan and cook over medium high heat, moving it constantly, until a deep brown colour develops. Grind with a coffee grinder or in a mortar and pestle into a sand-like texture.
- 2
In a medium pot, add the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Then add the ground pork and stir to break it up until it is fully cooked. Remove from the heat.
- 3
Using the pot as your mixing bowl, add shallots into the pork and stir to break up the rings and lightly wilt the shallots.
- 4
Add the fish sauce, lime juice, 1.5 Tbsp of the toasted ground rice, and the chili flakes and stir to mix. Then add the fresh herb: cilantro, sawtooth coriander (if using), green onions and mint. (Tip: If not serving right away, leave the mint leaves until serving time as they tend to turn black when exposed to warm food for a long time.
- 5
Taste and adjust to your liking with more fish sauce and lime juice as needed. If it feels a little too salty or acidic, you can add a pinch of sugar to help balance the salt and the acid.
- 6
Feel free to garnish with some mint leaves and fried dried chilies. Serve with some fresh crunchy vegetables and sticky rice.
- 7
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