Larb – Laos Meat Salad: the delicious traditional dish of Laos

Like any salad, you can make larb your own. Not enough cilantro or mint? Add more! Not a huge fan of cilantro? Substitute in Thai basil or maybe even more mint. Want more of a kick? Add more chilies. Do not eat pork or chicken? Try any other ground meat! There are also larb dishes that are made with fish or even mushrooms.

This dish is incredibly quick and easy to make. The most time-consuming step is simply dry toasting the rice grains, which takes about 10 minutes. If you make that ahead, you can be in larb-y heaven in 10 minutes or less.

There are also several different ways to serve up a plate of pork larb. You can serve it with some lettuce leaves for crunchy lettuce wraps, or you can serve it with Thai sticky rice, or even just some steamed jasmine rice if you do not want to get too fancy. 

Larb actually originated in Laos, where it is considered a national dish. It is very popular in Isan, a region that consists of 20 provinces in the Northeast of Thailand, as well as in the North of Thailand.

Some people think that the name of the dish comes from a Laotian and Thai word which means “luck” or “fortune”. However, these words have different etymological roots, as the name of the dish comes from ancient Lanna language (north of Thailand), where the word for luck comes from Sanskrit. Laab may actually come from an older word which means “to chop finely”.

Most salads that are composed of vegetables, or meats and vegetables are called “yum” in Thailand. However, this salad is called “larb”, which is typical of northeastern and northern style as it consists mostly of meat. In those regions, eating larb is actually considered a sign of wealth as meat is a relatively expensive.

Larb is most popular in Laos and northern Thailand with some variants. Some of which is also the famous dish in other countries such as Bò tái chanh in Vietnam.

Larb is most often made with chicken, beef, duck, fish, pork or mushrooms, flavored with fish sauce, lime juice, padaek, roasted ground rice and fresh herbs. The meat can be either raw or cooked; it is minced and mixed with chili, mint and, optionally, assorted vegetables.

Roughly ground toasted rice (khao khoua) is also a very important component of the dish. The dish is served at room temperature and usually with a serving of sticky rice and raw or fresh vegetables. 

The larb from northern Thailand - larb Lanna - is very different from the internationally more well-known Lao style larb. The northern Thai larb of the Thai Nyuan/Khon Muang (Northern Thai people) does not contain fish sauce and is not sour, as neither lime juice nor any other souring agent is used. 

Instead, the northern Thai version uses a mix of dried spices as flavoring and seasoning which includes ingredients such as cumin, cloves, long pepper, star anise, prickly ash seeds and cinnamon amongst others, derived from the location of northern Thailand's Lanna Kingdom on one of the spice routes to China, in addition to ground dried chillies, and, in the case of larb made with pork or chicken, the blood of the animal. 

The dish can be eaten raw (larb dip), but also after it has been stir-fried for a short time (larb suk). If blood is omitted from the preparation of the stir-fried version, the dish is called larb khua. There is also a kind of larb called larb luat or lu. 

This dish is made with minced raw pork or beef, raw blood, kidney, fat and bile, and mixed with spices, crispy fried onions, fresh herbs and other ingredients. Larb and its other variations are served with an assortment of fresh vegetables and herbs, and eaten with glutinous rice. 

This version of larb is viewed as having originated in the town of Phrae, in northern Thailand. This style of "larb" can also be found in parts of northern Laos.

Saa is a larb-like dish with the meat sliced thinly, rather than minced. A similar dish exists in Vietnam known as Bò tái chanh.

Nam tok is a Lao and Thai word meaning 'waterfall'. The name is derived either from the dripping of the meat juices during the grilling or from the juices running out of the medium rare beef as it is sliced. It refers to a popular Lao meat dish in both Laos and Isan, where it is commonly known as ping sin nam tok (Laos) or nuea yang nam tok (Thailand). This dish can be regarded as a variation on the standard larb, and is made from barbecued pork or beef, usually the neck, which is sliced in bite-size pieces.

The meat is then brought to a boil with some stock to create sauce. The heat is turned off, and then sliced shallots, ground roasted rice, chili powder, lime juice, and fish sauce are added, along with shredded coriander leaves, spring onions and mint leaves

The below recipe is for the most famous dish, i.e. Laos beef larb. If you prefer pork of chicken, just change beef into those meat. In Laos, you can even find the larb of ant eggs.
First, you can watch the below video for the general idea of how to cook the authentic dish of Laos beef larb before moving forward.

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds lean beef steak or sirloin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tbs toasted sticky rice powder
• 8 sprigs of cilantro coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup of bean sprouts for garnish
• 2 green onions finely chopped
• 8 sprigs mint coarsely chopped (Plus a few leaves for garnish)
• 5 kaffir limes leaves finely chopped or minced
• 8 sprigs sprigs of Vietnamese coriander add more cilantro if you can not find this
• 2 slices of galangal minced
• 1/2 stalk lemongrass outer peel removed, trimmed, and minced
• 2 Thai bird chili peppers thinly sliced (Thai chili's are exceptionally hot add according to your heat tolerance)
• 1 tsp red pepper dried & crushed
• 2-4 Tbsp fish sauce to taste
• 1 large lime juiced

Optional ingredients you may add

• 1-2 Tbsp fermented fish sauce and/or
• 1/4 cup beef tripe cooked & thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Cooking the Beef:
2. Grill beef for 6-7 minutes on medium heat/flame until cooked to your liking
3. Thinly slice the beef, making sure you're against the grain
4. Finely mince the beef and place in a large bowl
5. Mixing the Larb:
6. Add in the toasted rice powder, herbs and spices, crushed dried red pepper, fish sauce and lime juice.
7. Toss the salad . You are going for a balanced flavor of spicy, tangy, salty, adjust seasonings to taste
8. Garnish with some mint, cilantro, lime and serve with some cucumber slices and of course sticky rice.