Larb. Doesn’t sound like the most appetizing thing you could eat, does it?
Well, names can be deceiving. Because this Pork Larb is the best thing I’ve cooked all month.
What Is Larb?
I’m relatively new to the world of Larb, and if you’re also a newcomer, allow me to explain what it is. Larb is basically a salad—made out of meat. (So, like, the best KIND of salad, right?).
It’s a meat salad from Laos that has made its way into Thailand and other areas of Southeast Asia, as well as here in the West. Like other dishes in Southeast Asian cooking, the dish combines savory flavors with fresh ones.
It features fresh herbs like cilantro, scallions, and mint, and fresh lime juice. The addition of toasted ground rice also adds texture and nuttiness to the final dish.
Customize To Your Own Tastes
Like any salad, you can make larb your own. Not enough cilantro or mint in this recipe for you? 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. Don’t 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.
Serving Larb
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 don’t want to get too fancy.
I served mine with some homemade coconut rice and toasted coconut, which may not be completely traditional, but was pretty darn delicious.
Without further ado, let’s larb.
Pork Larb: Recipe Instructions
In a dry wok or pan over low heat, toast the rice grains, stirring continuously until they turn golden and fragrant––about 10 minutes.
Grind to a coarse powder in a mortar & pestle. Set aside.
Place your wok back over high heat until smoking. Add the oil and the ground pork. Stir-fry until the pork is browned…
And add in the toasted rice powder, sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice.
Stir-fry for another minute, and then add in the chili, shallots, scallions, cilantro, and mint. Stir-fry for one more minute, and then taste for seasoning, adding more chili, sugar, fish sauce, and/or lime juice to your taste if needed.
Serve your pork larb with coconut rice or plain white rice! Also check out our Chicken Larb recipe, if you’d like a chicken version or would like to see how to make chicken or pork larb lettuce wraps!
As I mentioned above, I served my delicious plate of Pork Larb with a bowl of homemade coconut rice––I’ll be posting the recipe for it in a couple days, so stay tuned!
Pork Larb, The National Dish of Laos
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon uncooked sticky rice (you can also substitute regular white rice if you don’t have sticky rice)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound ground pork (450g)
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 lime (juiced)
- 1 red chili (sliced)
- 3 shallots (peeled and thinly sliced)
- 3 scallions (chopped)
- ¼ cup cilantro
- ½ cup mint
Instructions
- In a dry wok or pan over low heat, toast the rice grains, stirring continuously until they turn golden and fragrant––about 10 minutes. Grind to a coarse powder in a mortar & pestle. Set aside.
- Place your wok back over high heat until smoking. Add the oil and the ground pork. Stir-fry until the pork is browned, and add in the toasted rice powder, sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice.
- Stir-fry for another minute, and then add in the chili, shallots, scallions, cilantro, and mint. Stir-fry for one more minute, and then taste for seasoning, adding more chili, sugar, fish sauce, and/or lime juice to your taste if needed.
- Serve with sticky rice, steamed jasmine rice, and/or lettuce leaves.
nutrition facts
Would it work to toast glutinous rice flour to avoid the mortar and pestle-ing or is that too fine?
Hi Melinda, the flour is too fine! If you don’t want to do the rice powder, you can just omit it!
In Laos one-quarter of the meat in the photo is one serving, and the rest of the plate is covered with heaped-up greens. So, the meat is a much smaller portion of the salad.
Thanks for sharing that, Greg. Will definitely try a more veggie forward version!
Can you toast a bigger batch of the toasted rice and save it?
Hi Sonia, I haven’t tried that, but I imagine it’s best to toast it when you make it for the freshest, nuttiest flavor!
Soo taste. Any tips on keeping the porrk moiste?
Hi Wayne, the best way is to use fattier ground pork! That said, this isn’t generally a moist/saucy dish!
So good, and fast! I’ve made it about 4 times now. Love the flavors in it.
Make with the coconut rice if you have time, otherwise wrap in lettuce leaves.
Thank you for the review, Bonnie!
This past week staying I out of town with some friends who just had a baby (Layla) and the husband made this for dinner along with the coconut rice on my last night, it was a game changer for me, and I am in l-o-v-e. He raved about your website too. So, my husband and I just drooled over all the photos! Thank you, we’re looking forward to some delightful dinners.
Love it, Jessica! So cool that you found out about our blog by trying a recipe prepared by a friend. :)
Larb. Doesn’t sound like the most appetizing thing you could eat, does it?
I guess if you don’t know how to pronounce it correctly or you’re judgemental. This intro comment is ignorant.
Hi Jen, I absolutely didn’t mean to offend, just to comment on how certain sounds/pronunciations can sound odd in another language and sometimes make people reluctant to try certain things, and that we ultimately shouldn’t be reluctant to try new things from other cultures. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
The toasted rice powder mentioned in the instructions is not included in the ingredients list.
Hi John-Mark, it’s the 1 tablespoon of sticky rice at the top of the ingredients list. The instructions go through how to toast and grind the rice.
can i use turkey or some other meat instead of pork?
Yes! Ground chicken and ground turkey also work. :)
That is soooo good! Wondering if I could make a pic-nic out of it. It would have to be cold but it might work. What do you think?
Don’t see why not, Pierre!