Laarb

Name: Laarb
Yield: makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, pork shoulder, or beef tenderloin; 1 garlic clove, peeled; 2 tablespoons corn, grapeseed, or other neutral oil; Salt and black pepper to taste; 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste; 1 tablespoon nam pla, or to taste (see page 500); Pinch of cayenne, or to taste; Juice of 1/2 lime, or to taste; 1 cup loosely packed mixed herbs, like cilantro, basil, mint, or Thai basil; 1 shallot, sliced; 1 small fresh chile, such as Thai or serrano, stemmed, seeded, and sliced, optional (use it only if you like your food very spicy); About 12 outer leaves of cabbage or iceberg lettuce; 2 tablespoons Khao Koor: Ground and Toasted Rice (page 587), optional; Lime wedges for garnish

December 14, 2011

You could call this chicken salad Thai-style, but whatever you call it—you’ll see larb, larp, laarb, and other variations on menus—this is a quick, delicious, appetite-rousing starter. Teaming it with any of the more substantial Thai dishes in this book and some rice makes for an impressive meal. (If you need information on nam pla, see page 500.) Most laarb served in this country is made from chicken, and certainly that’s good and easy. But laarb is even more delicious made with pork shoulder or beef tenderloin. In any case, this is one place where you should mince the meat together with the garlic by hand; food-processed meat is just a little too mushy here. The process shouldn’t take more than five minutes, though, so don’t be put off.

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