Larb - Thai Lettuce Cups


I'm a huge fan of Southeast Asian cuisine with it's abundant use of limes, fragrant herbs and tubers like galangal, turmeric and ginger. It makes everything super flavorful and it's hard to go wrong. Not to mention what a crowd pleaser most of their well known foods are.
Since I had a nice head of romaine lettuce, I decided to make larb. I've made this a few times before with variations on the meat and the accompanying vegetables. This is the most simple combination and it makes for a fabulous & light meal in summer.


The savoriness of the sauce in the ground meat flavors all the vegetable toppings well making it sort of like a salad dressing. The lettuce adds a nice crunch keeping it light and fresh. I hope you try it!

Recipe adapted from Dinner: Changing The Game, Melissa Clark
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 serranos, chopped fine
1 lb ground pork or chicken or beef
8 oz baby spinach
8 large romaine lettuce leaves or 12 medium butter lettuce leaves
shredded carrots
cucumber spears
mint leaves
cilantro leaves
lime wedges


Procedure:
Mix soy sauce, fish sauce and lime juice and set aside. Heat oil in a wide pan on medium high heat and add garlic slices and saute for 30 seconds till very light brown. Add scallions and serranos and saute for 30-60 seconds more till the green onions are cooked and wilted. Add the pork or beef and break it up and stir fry for 5-8 minutes till no longer pink and starting to get brown in places. Add the set aside same mixture and let it cook for a minute. Add the spinach in batches and cook just until wilted. Take the pan off heat. Serve this ground meat mixture onto romaine lettuce (or butter lettuce) leaves topped with shredded carrots, cucumber spears and herbs. Squeeze a lime wedge on top (and maybe a little sea salt) and serve.


Comments

  1. I am such a huge fan of larb, too. The flavors are so vibrant. Plus, it's great for any guests who are trying to eat fewer carbs.

    ReplyDelete

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