Larb – aromatic Asian style mince served in lettuce cups
Servings: 4
The unofficial national dish of Laos; Larb perfect all year around and utterly delicious!
Print Recipe
Servings
Equipment
- frying pan
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 750 g pork mince
- 15 ml olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 3 inches fresh ginger grated
- 1 red chili chopped
- 2 sticks lemongrass outer leaves removed and finely chopped
- 50 ml fish sauce
- 2 lime
- 10 g fresh mint
- 2 gem lettuce
- 200 g vermicelli rice noodles
- 15 ml sesame oil optional
Instructions
Noodles
- Place noodles into mixing bowl and pour over boiling water until fully submerged by a few inches. Cover and leave to hydrate for 10 minutes. Drain and drizzle with sesame oil (or any other oil to stop them sticking).
Larb
- Fry mince in pan with little olive oil for a few minutes until it is *almost* cooked through, then push to one side of the pan (you can spoon out some of the fat if there is a lot). Add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chili (if using) with a little more oil if needed in the empty side of the pan. Stir for 30 seconds, then mix it all together.
- Add the fish sauce, generous pinch of salt, squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and then fold in the rice noodles.
- NOTE: cutting the noodles a couple of times with a knife just to break them up a bit can help them incorporate better into the mince.
- Once incorporated remove from the heat and mix in the freshly chopped mint. Taste, adding more lime, salt or fish sauce as needed.
Finally
- Peel off some nice leaves from the gem lettuce (usually three per person depending on size) and spoon in the mince mixture into the lettuce leaves and serve!
FLEXITARIAN
Vegan – use vegan mince and swap fish sauce for soy instead.
I like to add more herbs; coriander and mint – lots of them!
Add edamame beans or fine beans if you want more veg in it.
Nutrition Per Serving
Calories: 777kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 135mg | Sodium: 1181mg | Potassium: 759mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 245IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 3mg
