Larb gai (chicken salad)
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 2
This hot and spicy Thai chicken salad is a great meal for lighter, brighter evenings.
Ingredients
For the roast chilli powder
- 6 dried long Thai red chillies
For the roast fine rice powder
- 50g/1¾oz Thai sticky rice
For the larb
- 150ml/5fl oz chicken stock
- large pinch palm or caster sugar
- 350g/12oz chicken breast, minced by hand or store bought chicken mince
- 5 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 4–5 bird’s-eye chillies, chopped
- 2 large pinches roast chilli powder (see above)
- 5 Thai shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- handful fresh mint, coarsely chopped
- handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
- handful Thai basil, roughly chopped
- 2 large pinches roast fine rice powder (see above)
- freshly steamed Thai sticky rice, to serve (optional)
- 1 Little Gem lettuce, leaves separated (optional)
Method
To make the roast chilli powder, heat a small heavy-based frying pan to smoking hot and dry-fry the chillies for around 1–2 minutes. Make sure to open any windows to clear the fumes.
Remove from the heat, leave to cool and then grind the chillies to a powder. You can use a spice grinder or pestle and mortar. This will keep in a sealed jar, out of sunlight for 3 months.
To make the roast rice powder, heat a small heavy-based frying pan over a medium–low heat and dry-fry the rice for 5–10 minutes, or until the rice starts to toast and gives off a burnt-ish biscuity smell. This will keep in a sealed jar, out of sunlight for 3 months.
Crush to a fine powder using a pestle and mortar.
To make the larb, bring the stock and sugar to a simmer in a saucepan.
Add the chicken and simmer gently for 5–10 minutes, or until cooked through.
Remove from the heat and add the lime juice, fish sauce, chillies, chilli powder, shallots and herbs.
Sprinkle with the roast rice powder and serve with sticky rice or in lettuce cups.
