Larb Gai - Thai Chicken Mince with Peanut Rice

 One of the first South Asian dishes I tried was the Larb Gai when I migrated to Adelaide. Prior to that I hadn't really travelled at all, and the restaurants in India that I had been to in my home town and even in Chennai, a metropolitan town only served continental and Indian food.  

What attracted me to the Larb Gai was the mix of the fresh lettuce, onions and lime juice with the chicken mince - a perfect blend of sweet, sour and heat. It was served in lettuce cups as an entrée and I enjoyed the dish a lot.  Over the years I have had it several times and today I have served it as a side dish with shredded lettuce along with peanut rice. 

I made up peanut rice on the spur of the moment as I wanted to marry the flavours of the Larb Gai with the rice.  I also had a jar of Mayvers smooth peanut butter that was in the pantry which looked like the perfect thing to use for the dish.

Last month one of my friends, Nimmi visited Melbourne with her husband. We met at a Thai restaurant and one of the dishes we ordered was the Larb Gai. Even though she is well travelled, it is the first time she is tasting Larb Gai too. Both Nimmi and her husband enjoyed the dish a lot and it was a pleasure to see because you do want your friends to like what you like!  And it made me very happy that she enjoyed the dish as much as I did when I first tried it!

Ingredients for the Larb Gai:

500 grams chicken mince

2 teaspoons corn flour

3 tablespoons water

juice of 2 limes

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons peanut oil or sesame oil

3-4 shallots, chopped

1 tablespoon ginger, chopped finely

1 tablespoon garlic, chopped finely

1 lemongrass stalk, white part, finely chopped

3 birds eye chillies, cut on a slant

1/3 cup coriander leaves

1/3 cup mint leaves

3 tablespoons roasted, crushed peanuts

Shredded lettuce to serve

Method:

Heat oil, add ginger, sauté for a minute, then add garlic, sauté for less than a minute until it releases its fragrance. Next add the chilli, lemongrass and most of the shallots. Sauté for another minute and add the chicken mince. Cook the chicken mince until it resembles scrambled eggs.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by mixing the water, cornflour, fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice.  Test the flavours and make sure the balance of salt, sugar and sourness is right. 

Pour this sauce over the cooked chicken along with the reserved chopped shallots, mint leaves and coriander leaves. Garnish with toasted and crushed peanuts.

To serve:

Place a bed of shredded lettuce on a plate and put a generous serving of the larb gai. 

Ingredients for Peanut Rice:

2 cups cooked brown rice

2 tablespoons Mayvers Peanut Butter

1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds

3 tablespoons roasted and crushed peanuts.

Method:

Mix the peanut butter through the cooked rice. Add the crushed peanuts, and sesame seeds.