Southeast Asian · Lunch · Dinner
Larb (Lao Minced Chicken Salad)
ລາບ (Laab)
Juicy minced chicken tossed warm with lime, fish sauce, chilli, shallots, fresh mint and nutty toasted rice powder, served in crisp lettuce cups. Bright, punchy and light enough for any night of the week.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Serves
- 4
Calories come from: Carbs 23% · Fat 38% · Protein 39%
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Ingredients
For 4 servings- 500 gLean ground chicken
- 2 tbsp25 gUncooked glutinous (sticky) rice
- 3 tbsp45 gWater
- 2 tbsp36 gFish sauce
- 1/4 cup (about 3 limes)60 gFresh lime juice
- 1 tspDried red chilli flakes
- 1/2 tspSugar (optional)
- 2 medium60 gShallots, thinly sliced
- 3 stalks45 gSpring onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup, loosely packed15 gFresh mint leaves
- 1/2 cup, loosely packed10 gFresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
- 1 head (about 12 leaves)250 gLettuce leaves, for cups
- 1 medium200 gCucumber, sliced
Steps
- 1
Put the dry glutinous rice in a dry frying pan over medium heat.
- 2
Toast, shaking the pan often, for 5–6 minutes until deep golden and fragrant.
- 3
Let the rice cool, then grind it to a coarse powder in a mortar or spice grinder.
- 4
Add the ground chicken and water to the same pan over medium heat.
- 5
Cook for 6–8 minutes, breaking it up finely, until no pink remains and it reaches 74 °C / 165 °F.
- 6
Take the pan off the heat and let the chicken cool for 2 minutes.
- 7
Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice, chilli flakes and sugar (if using).
- 8
Add the shallots and spring onions and toss well.
- 9
Mix in most of the toasted rice powder, the mint and the coriander.
- 10
Taste and adjust with more lime or chilli if you like.
- 11
Spoon into lettuce leaves, sprinkle with the remaining rice powder and serve with the cucumber slices.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- Use lean ground turkey or pork instead of chicken for a similar texture and flavour.
- For a vegetarian version, use finely crumbled firm tofu instead of chicken and a vegetarian fish sauce or light soy sauce, and choose one labelled gluten-free if you need it.
- If you can't find glutinous rice, toast regular jasmine rice the same way, or buy ready-made toasted rice powder from an Asian grocer.
- Serve with a scoop of steamed jasmine or sticky rice instead of lettuce cups for a more filling plate.
Storage
Refrigerate the dressed chicken in an airtight container within 2 hours and eat within 3 days, keeping lettuce and cucumber separate; the herbs and rice powder soften, so it is best eaten fresh and should not be frozen. Enjoy leftovers cold straight from the fridge, or reheat the chicken until steaming hot and add fresh herbs and lime after.
Make ahead
Toast and grind the rice powder up to a week ahead and store it in an airtight jar at room temperature. You can also wash the lettuce, slice the shallots and spring onions, and squeeze the lime juice a day ahead, keeping them chilled until you cook the chicken.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
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Allergens and nutrition
Contains: Fish
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (312 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 243 kcal | 78 kcal |
| Protein | 24.4 g | 7.8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 14.5 g | 4.6 g |
| of which sugars | 4.2 g | 1.3 g |
| Fiber | 2.5 g | 0.8 g |
| Fat | 10.5 g | 3.4 g |
| of which saturated | 2.9 g | 0.9 g |
| Sodium | 796 mg | 255 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
