Last Updated on August 29, 2022
In 30 minutes or less, you can make chicken larb (larb gai), a dish that will tingle your senses and fill your kitchen with fresh aromas. Larb gai originated in Laos, but you can also find the dish in northern Thailand (brought over by Laotians) where it is served with long-grain or sticky rice.
Each scoop contains browned ground chicken, chopped herbs, a splash of lime juice, and toasted rice powder for its signature nuttiness. Even the serving options are endless: Enjoy your larb with lettuce cups, sticky rice, or on its own.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup of raw sticky or sweet rice
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 limes juiced
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 1/2 cup mint chopped
- 2 scallions sliced
- 2 shallots sliced
- 3-4 Thai red chilis sliced thinly with the seeds
- Salt
Instructions
- Add the rice to a wok or large skillet over medium heat, and stir continuously for 5-7 minutes until the rice turns light brown. Using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind the rice into a fine powder. Set aside.
- Place a wok or skillet over high heat. Once the pan starts smoking, add the ground chicken and break up the chicken into finer bits using a spoon. Continue cooking the chicken until it browns, about 6-8 minutes. Then add the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and water and stir for another minute.
- Remove the chicken from the heat and stir in the cilantro, mint, scallions, shallots, chilis, and rice powder.
- Salt to taste and serve the larb gai in lettuce cups or with sticky rice.
Jess Eng is a freelance writer, food zine and cookbook author, and data visualization enthusiast from San Francisco, CA. Her work and recipes have been published in The Washington Post, NPR, Atlas Obscura, and KQED. You can find her on Twitter @jessicaeng17
