This is the national dish of Laos but it appears in various incarnations throughout Southeast Asia. Often made with pork or chicken, it’s equally good with beef. Play around with the proportions to get the balance of sharpness and heat that you like best. This is a super-speedy starter that’s fun to eat, or a quick supper that you can have on the table in minutes.
Beef Larb with Lettuce Wraps – Printer Friendly Download
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil or Irish rapeseed oil
- 2 red chillies, finely chopped (use bird’s eye chillies if you can take the heat)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 400 g minced beef
- 1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
- 4 spring onions, finely chopped
- zest and juice of 1 lime
- 4 tablespoons coriander, finely chopped
- 2 heads of iceberg lettuce
To garnish:
- finely sliced shallots
- 100 g toasted peanuts, chopped
To Cook
Put the oil in a frying pan on medium heat, add the finely chopped chillies and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the beef, turn up the heat and cook for 3–4 minutes or until no trace of pink remains, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Add the fish sauce and cook until the liquid evaporates. Off the heat, stir in the spring onions, the zest and juice of the lime and the coriander. Taste and add more lime juice if you like. Fill the iceberg lettuce leaves with scoops of the meat and serve with shallots and peanuts on the side. Eat with your fingers.
