Just in time for the Songkran Festival in Thailand - known to many as the water festival stretching the span of three days in welcoming the Thai New Year - I decided to throw a themed dinner party featuring some of the most loved Thai dishes.
At once exotic as it is now familiar to almost every part of the world, Thai cuisine is a profusion of complex flavors and fragrances, guided by the intricate balance of sweet, sour, spicy, and pungent that varies from region to region. I have long had a love affair with Thai food, but it wasn't until I enrolled in my first ever cooking school experience in Chiang Mai have I gained such insight and respect for this truly sensational realm of cooking.
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| The shimmering golden stupa of a Wat, my solo trip to Chiang Mai | 2012 |
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| Having a blast at the Thai Farm Cooking School! |
Larb (ลาบ) is a classic Isaan dish originating from Northeastern Thailand, and is typically prepared with pork or chicken. Enjoy it with a ball of warm, fresh sticky rice, or wrap it in a luscious lettuce leaf for a delicious starter or a light lunch. Not unlike many Thai dishes, larb takes its flavors and aromas from fish sauce, lime, chili, and sugar, in addition to shallots, abundant herbs, and - most importantly - toasted sticky rice powder, or khao kua (ข้าวคั่ว).
Although hardly visible once mixed into the pork, khao kua imparts a nutty, smoky fragrance and crunch that is characteristic to larb and many Northeastern style dishes and dips. Toasting and grinding rice is SIMPLE, so don't skip it! All the measurements for seasonings below are approximate, as ultimately it is the tongue that knows best (I second Rachel Ray in that I clearly do not swear by precise measuring in the kitchen).
To prepare...
1 lb (460 grams) ground pork
1 tablepoon Thai ground chili^
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus zest of the limes
4 small shallots, chopped
Handful of chopped spring onion
Handful of fresh mint
Handful of fresh cilantro
2 heads of little gem lettuce, rinsed, to serve
*Note: if unavailable, substitute with pearl rice. I used a Korean short-grain variety.
^Note: if unavailable, use crushed red pepper flakes and chili powder like I did!
1. For the khao kua... Heat a dry frying pan on low heat and toss in uncooked rice. Toast the rice until fragrant and nutty, shaking pan occasionally. Turn heat off as soon as the rice turns golden yellow and begins to brown. Set aside to cool slightly. Pound the toasted rice with a mortar and pestle the traditional way or give it a quick blitz in a blender. Be sure not to grind it into fine powder to keep some crunch.
2. For the larb... In a saucepan on medium heat, add ground pork, stirring frequently to break into small pieces until completely cooked. Tip in a heaping tablespoon of toasted rice powder and add chili flakes, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and zest.
4. Scatter the remaining mint and cilantro over the larb and dish it out with a fresh bed of gem lettuce leaves. Enjoy!
【 泰式肉碎沙律 】
材料：
泰國新年潑水節將至，唔少遊客都會紛紛快閃泰國濕濕身，當然也不少得豪飲豪食！為響應新年，喺呢度同大家分享最喜愛的泰國東北菜式食譜 — 既辛香惹味又開胃刺激的「肉碎生菜包 ลาบ」! 不過其實生菜包是港式化的享用方式，在泰國多配糯米飯啊～ 如果想炮製出最正宗的東北風味，食譜裡的自製烤米粉 (khao kua) 絕對或不可缺噢！
泰國糯米 50 克
免治豬肉 460 克 / 1 磅
泰國辣椒粉 1 湯匙
魚露 1 湯匙
砂糖 適量
新鮮青檸汁 1 湯匙
乾蔥 4 顆
蔥 適量（剁碎）
芫荽 適量（剁碎）
薄荷葉 適量（剁碎）
烤米粉做法：
用乾鍋烘香糯米，放涼後可用傳統研缽和研杵或攪拌機磨成粉末即成。
肉碎沙律做法：
1. 炒鍋下油預熱，以中火兜炒豬肉至全熟。加入一大湯匙烤米粉、辣椒粉、砂糖、魚露和青檸汁。拌入乾蔥、蔥、芫荽和薄荷葉。拌勻後再依個人口味作調味。
2. 完成後配上各式生菜或糯米飯，風味絕佳！
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