Larb is the bright, herby minced-meat salad of Thailand and Laos: ground chicken cooked through, then seasoned off the heat with fish sauce, lime juice, and chili flakes, tossed with toasted rice powder for a nutty crunch, and finished with mint, cilantro, and green onions. It is salty, sour, and spicy — in that order — and it is meant to be adjusted at the table to your taste.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
Toasted rice powder (khao khua)
- 2 tbsp uncooked jasmine rice or Thai glutinous (sticky) rice (makes more than this recipe needs; store the extra in a sealed jar)
Larb
- 1 lb (450 g) ground chicken
- 2 tbsp water or chicken stock (to keep the meat from drying as it cooks)
- 2 tbsp fish sauce, plus more to taste
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 2 limes), plus more to taste
- 1 tsp granulated sugar (optional)
- 1 1/2 tsp dried Thai chili flakes, to taste
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 tbsp toasted rice powder
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, larger leaves torn
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
For serving: lettuce leaves, cabbage wedges, cucumber, and cooked rice.
Method
- Toast the rice powder. Put the uncooked rice in a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir or shake constantly until deeply golden brown and fragrant, several minutes. Transfer immediately to a plate to stop the toasting (it burns fast at the end). Cool, then grind to a coarse, sandy powder with a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
- Put the ground chicken and water in a skillet over medium heat. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until fully cooked with no pink remaining — the chicken must reach 165°F internal temperature (verify with a thermometer). Do not brown it hard; larb chicken is typically cooked through but not seared.
- Take the pan off the heat. Add the shallots and toss in the residual heat until just softened.
- Add the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar (if using), and chili flakes. Toss and taste — adjust fish sauce and lime until the balance tastes right to you: salty, sour, and spicy, in that order of prominence.
- Sprinkle over the toasted rice powder and toss.
- Add the mint, cilantro, and green onions; toss gently. Serve warm or at room temperature with lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, and rice.
Tips and ingredient notes
- Rice powder texture: grind it coarse and sandy, not to a fine flour — the crunch is the point.
- Mint timing: mint goes in last, off the heat, with the other fresh herbs. Added earlier, it blackens and turns bitter. Season first, herbs last.
- Seasoning is taste-driven: the fish sauce and lime amounts here are starting points — adjust until the balance tastes right to you.
- Sticky rice: Thai sticky (glutinous) rice is the classic accompaniment; jasmine rice or lettuce cups are common home substitutes.
- Ground turkey can replace the chicken with the same method and the same 165°F requirement.
Storage and food safety
Allergen note: contains fish (fish sauce). Ground chicken must reach 165°F (74°C) with no pink remaining — verify with a thermometer rather than color alone (FoodSafety.gov). Serve within 2 hours of cooking; refrigerate leftovers promptly and reheat to 165°F.