Lao/ Northern Thai Pork Larb

This Lao/ Northern Thailand dish is a fresh flavourful Southeast Asian extravaganza. It is a dish of pork mince, flavoured with lime juice and fish sauce and various other ingredients such as chilli and coriander. This Larb is packed full of flavour and includes snow peas, broccolini and capsicum with all the ingredients and flavours working together to achieve that magic balance of hot(spicy), sour, sweet and salty.

There are quite a few ingredients which make up this dish but it is not hard to make- just allow a little time to prep and cook, it’s well worth it! I have only used a wok to cook this dish but you could cook it in a large frypan….maybe reduce ingredients by a third for frypan

 Served with baby cos and rice

Ingredients

1.5 kgs of pork mince

1.5 tbs peanut oil

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

Two thirds of a cup of grated palm sugar

1.5 cups of fried shallots – you can get these from most supermarkets now (previously I had to go to an Asian supermarket)

1 packet of lime or makrut leaves, very finely chopped – from supermarkets, generally in the salad frig

4 tbs lime juice

1.5 cups of roasted peanuts – roast them in the oven for around 10 mins and don’t let them blacken/burn!

1 packet broccolini, halved lengthways

2 packets of snow peas

2 red capsicums - I like the long ones. Slice them into rounds and then halve

2-3 fresh red chillies – cut in half lengthways, remove seeds and slice into small bits

1.5 pots or bags of coriander, coarsely chopped – key ingredient

1 bag of baby cos leaves or sweet petite cos

750 gms rice – I sometimes “cheat” and use 3 packets of “boil in a bag”!

Cooking instructions

1. Mix together the sugar, fish sauce, lime leaves, shallots and 2 tablespoons of the lime juice
2. Heat oil in a wok and stir fry half the garlic and half the pork until pork is browned through. Remove from wok with slotted spoon and repeat with other half
3. Meanwhile boil for 2 mins max/ steam the snow peas - they need to still be "crunchy"
4. Repeat for broccolini – this should take about 5 mins
5. Add sugar/ sauce mix to wok and carefully bring to the boil, stirring with a wooden spatula throughout. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for a couple of minutes.
6. Return pork to the wok, thoroughly mix through and cook for another 2-3 minutes
7. Stir remaining 2 tablespoons of lime juice, half the coriander into the Larb and gently mix through.
8. Cook rice as you would normally cook it!
9. Add the broccolini, snow peas, capsicum and chillies - toss and cook for a further 3 or so minutes.
10. Remove from heat and add balance of coriander and roasted peanuts and serve with rice and cos leaves

Serves 6-8