Best 4 Laab Thai Ground Meat Salad Recipes

LAAB - THAI GROUND BEEF SALAD

Steps:

• Toast rice in a dry skillet (no oil) over medium-high heat. Cook rice, shaking pan frequently until rice turns golden, about 8 minutes.
• While rice is toasting, combine beef, 3 tablespoons of the lime juice, Fish Sauce, shallots and ginger in a bowl.
• When rice is golden, pour on plate to cool. In same skillet over high heat, add beef mixture. Cook, breaking meat into small pieces, about 5-7 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from heat.
• Add remaining tablespoon of lime juice, scallions, mint, cilantro, Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce and sugar to meat. Mix well.
• Add cooled rice to spice grinder or blender, and grind into a sandy powder. Add to meat mixture and mix well.
• Spoon laab into a serving bowl lined with lettuce leaves, or serve on individual leaves for a pretty presentation. Garnish with whole mint leaves.

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.

LAAB - THAI GROUND MEAT SALAD

Steps:

• Dry roast the rice in a skillet until browned, then pound or process to a coarse powder and set aside.
• Brown the ground meat with the garlic- If using ground chicken, saute the garlic for a minute in oil first.
• Add shallots, scallions, mint leaves and roasted rice powder.
• Stir fry until the shallots become limp.
• Remove from heat.
• Add remaining ingredients.
• Let chill slightly.
• Serve with rice, cellophane noodles or wrapped in lettuce leaves.

TOFU LARB

Steps:

• Make the toasted rice powder: Heat a medium (10-inch) skillet over medium-high. Add the rice and stir constantly for 4 to 6 minutes until golden, with a nutty aroma. Transfer rice to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind until it is a coarse powder. (You don't want it too fine; some texture is nice.) You should have about 3 1/2 tablespoons. Set rice powder aside.
• Make the dressing: In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, brown sugar, soy sauce and red-pepper flakes; whisk until the sugar is dissolved.
• Crumble the tofu into small chunks and place in a large bowl.
• Heat the medium skillet over medium-high and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the lemongrass and shallot and cook, stirring constantly, until softened and aromatic, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add to the tofu, along with the lime dressing, rice powder, makrut lime leaves, herbs and salt. Taste and add more salt if needed.
• To serve, spoon the tofu larb into the lettuce leaves and garnish with crispy fried shallots.