Larb (Laap/Laab) Minced Meat Salad Recipe & Video - Seonkyoung Longest (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between laap and laab? ›

Laab / Larb (Lao: ລາບ; Thai: ลาบ, RTGS: lap, pronounced [lâːp], also spelled laap, larp, or lahb) is a type of Lao meat salad that is the national dish of Laos, along with green papaya salad and sticky rice. Laab in the Lao language is a noun that refers to meat or other flesh that has been finely chopped and pounded.

larb Isan is known for its robust spiciness. Minced meat is usually seasoned with lime juice, fish sauce, chilli powder, grounded roasted rice, shallots, and spring onions. Some recipes also include coriander and mint leaves.

Many people mispronounce it when they see larb because they think there is a hard “r” sound in the word. Laab is pronounced with no “r” but with a long “a” vowel and soft “b” sound. It all started with me posting on Instagram and it spiraled into many people speaking up about how the word has always bothered them.

A ground beef dish that originated from Northern Thailand. The larb is sweet from the natural taste of beef and the sugar, yet slightly tart from the lime and fish sauce. The cilantro, mint, ginger and green onion mix adds a freshness and clean taste to the dish.

Meaning of larb in English

a meat salad often made with ground pork (= the meat from a pig) and common in southeast Asian cooking: I was served larb, a spicy minced pork salad, with mint and cilantro on radicchio lettuce leaves. In certain parts of Thailand the leaf is eaten with raw beef larb.

Raw larb, also known as laab diip or koy nua, is a spicy raw beef salad from Thailand's Isan region. It combines minced beef, often with blood and beef bile, with toasted rice powder and spices, creating bold flavors unique to Lao and Isan cuisine.

Thai food is often healthier than Chinese food. Thai food puts a focus on balance and variety. They are often light and the aromas are just as important as the taste of the food. Thai food uses less heavy sauces and oils than Chinese food uses that are healthier for you, if any oil at all.

One of the things that sets Thai cuisine apart is its ability to blend flavors harmoniously. Thai dishes are known for their complex taste profiles that combine sweet, sour, salty, and spicy elements in perfect proportions.

Why? Authentic larb gai is made with padaek which is a fermented fish made into a thick fish sauce. Fermented fish is what makes larb smell. If you can't get over the smell, this is one of the ingredients that can be omitted from the recipe without any substitutions.

While typically perceived as Thai, larb actually originated in Laos — where it is largely considered the national dish! Over time, the dish migrated and became popular in Thailand.

How to eat laab? ›

It's often served with pickled onions, steamed white rice, and fresh herbs, along with crisp leaves of lettuce for wrapping it all up. There are a lot of ways to make the dish super simple (crisp some meat, eat it with lettuce) or super complex (that whole toasted, ground rice thing).

"Larb" is the most popular way Thai restaurants write out the dish on menus because when Thai people speak Thai-accented English, we don't pronounce the R (we pronounce "car" as "ka," for example). Anyway, LAAB is a ground meat salad that hails from the northeast region of Thailand known as Isaan.

Bitterness is an essential component of Thai cuisine, adding depth and complexity to certain dishes. Bitter flavors are often derived from ingredients like bitter melon, bitter herbs, and dark leafy greens. One dish where the bitterness shines is the popular Stir-Fried Morning Glory.

Ingredients: Smoked and roasted Bird's Eye Chillies, locally grown Long Pepper (deeplee), Thai Prickly Ash (makwaem), Peucedanum Dhana (maleap), Indian Bayleaf (Cinnamomum Tamala), Coriander seed, Dill seed, Cumin seed, Fennel seed, Sun-dried Sand Ginger, Galangal and Lemongrass and Black pepper.

Ingredients: Smoked and roasted Bird's Eye Chillies, locally grown Long Pepper (deeplee), Thai Prickly Ash (makwaem), Peucedanum Dhana (maleap), Indian Bayleaf (Cinnamomum Tamala), Coriander seed, Dill seed, Cumin seed, Fennel seed, Sun-dried Sand Ginger, Galangal and Lemongrass and Black pepper.

If you want to eat laap like the Lao do, order it plus any other dishes and sticky rice family style and try eating it with your hands: grab enough sticky rice to fit inside a closed hand and use it to scoop of a bit of laap.

Larb's Sister Dish, Nam Tok

Fun Fact: Namtok is a word meaning “waterfall” in Lao and Thai, and the dish got it's name from the juices that drip during the grilling process of meat.

Larb is made using the main ingredients of beef, chicken, or pork that is mixed in with toasted rice powder, lime, and fresh herbs whereas nam sod excludes the toasted rice powder adds a mixture of minced garlic, ginger, carrots, and topped with roasted peanuts on a bed of lettuce.