Larb

Minced chicken in lettuce wraps. Served with sticky rice, a staple in Laotian meals.

Total time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sticky rice (sushi rice works well)
• 1/4 cup uncooked medium grain white rice
• 1kg boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
• 1 small red chile, deseeded and finely chopped
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon shrimp paste (see previous post on this blog)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 10-12 lettuce leaves (one head of butter lettuce works well as the lettuce is flavorful and sturdy enough to make wraps)

Directions

1. Cook sticky rice according to package instructions. We used sushi rice cooked in a rice cooker.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread the uncooked white rice onto a baking sheet. Bake the rice in the oven until golden (15 minutes). Once cooled, grind into a fine powder using a spice grinder or coffee grinder. Set aside.
3. Process the chicken thigh meat in a food processor until finely minced. Set aside.
4. Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, ginger, chili, and green onions. Cook, stirring, until the garlic softens (3 minutes).
5. Add the minced chicken and cook, stirring to break up lumps, until the meat is no longer pink (5 minutes) .
6. Add fish sauce, shrimp paste, and sugar. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the excess liquid has evaporated (5 minutes).
7. Stir in the ground rice, mint, and lime juice.
8. Serve on lettuce leaves with sticky rice.

Family Ratings

• Mama: 5/5, my favorite dish out of all the countries so far!
• Papa: 4.5/5
• Girlie: 4.5/5
• TW: 4.5/5
• McM: 4.5/5, very interesting and exotic flavor, lettuce wraps make a great light meal!

Original recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/lao-papaya-salad-447215

Larb (bottom) served with sticky rice (right), papaya salad (top), and shrimp paste on crackers (left). See other posts on this blog for recipes.