RECIPE: How To Make Larb – Laos Meat Salad

Lao larb, also known as moo larb, is the perfect dish for a hot summer’s day. It’s incredibly easy to make and really refreshing. It hails from South East Asia; we first tried it in Laos, where Laos meat salad holds the status of national dish, but we have also eaten it in Thailand, and quickly became hooked. Even better, all the ingredients are really easy to find in our home country. There’s a tiny bit of preparation needed prior to assembling the dish, so worth thinking about making it ahead of time.

The ‘moo’ of moo larb is pork. But you can use variations for the meat part of the Laos meat salad. You really need a lean meat. Chicken mince works really well and quorn mince or mushrooms can provide a vegetarian alternative. Lamb isn’t recommended as it’s quite fatty and the fat tends to congeal a little when it cools, which doesn’t provide a very nice texture.

The following recipe will feed four as a starter or two hungry people.

INGREDIENTS FOR LAOS MEAT SALAD

300g pork mince.

1 large red onion (or 2 small)

Generous handful of fresh mint

Generous handful of fresh coriander

Freshly milled black pepper

1 or 2 juicy limes

Generous splash of fish sauce (vegetarians can use veggie fish sauce or a combination of soy sauce with a dash of vinegar) – around half a tablespoon

Optional: chilli flakes, toasted rice, teaspoon of sugar, Thai basil leaves for garnish

METHOD – HOW TO MAKE LAOS MEAT SALAD

You need to allow enough time for the mince to cook and cool before assembling the dish. It’s the perfect ‘make in advance’ dish.

Cook the mince. Pour a little oil into a pan and fry until the meat is cooked through. Allow it to cool.

Finely chop the onion, coriander and mint and add to the mince.

Add the fish sauce, lime juice and black pepper to taste. We really like coarsely ground black pepper so grind ours in a pestle and mortar. This is really where you can adapt the flavour to your personal taste.

Mix well. It’s fine to make in advance and let the flavours infuse.

Serve with steamed rice and a salad garnish.

laos meat salad - moo larb - mixed and made — *Pork moo larb*

You can make a vegan version using quorn mince or veggie mince. Don’t forget to replace the fish sauce with veggie fish sauce or soy sauce with a splash of lemon juice.

vegan moo larb made with quorn — _{Vegetarian version using quorn mince}

VARIATIONS

One of the lovely things about this dish is that you really can adjust it to your taste. There are some variations. If you like heat, add chilli flakes (flakes are better than fresh chilli). This was one of the dishes we tasted in Lao that wasn’t searingly hot, the spice coming from the pepper rather than chilli, but it’s fine to add more heat if you like it. If you’d like to add some sweetness, sprinkle in a little sugar and mix in.

There is also an important and popular variation where you can add roasted ground rice powder for an additional nutty complexity to the flavour and texture. It’s very simple: place a handful of uncooked Thai rice in a dry frying pan and roast the rice for 10 minutes or so, moving about in the pan until the rice is brown. Then transfer to a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder and grind to a powder.