Lunch or Dinner: Larb Gai (i.e. Thai Chicken Salad)

Today is a Public Holiday in Australia, and I decided to take yesterday off work and create a 4-day weekend/3-day week. Last week was really busy, with work [obviously], plus multiple gigs (Joanna Newsom and The Decemberists [both awesome]), trips to the tennis, leaving drinks, and a splitting migraine which wrote off most of my Tuesday. Yesterday was a chance to have a well deserved lie-in.

Once I was back in the land of the living, I walked around the corner to Victoria Street (home of many a Vietnamese restaurant, Asian Supermarket and the odd person who really, really likes heroin), via the aforementioned detour to Three Bags Full. The plan was to pick up some ingredients for Larb Gai (a Laotian/Thai Salad of Minced Chicken with Toasted Rice, Lime and Chilli) and Banana, Coconut and Walnut Bread (recipe to follow later in week)

Having had Larb made by friends, and eaten it at restaurants, I was pleasantly surprised with how my effort turned out - sweet, sour and salty with a decent chilli kick and a nice bit of texture added by the ground rice. Plenty of leftovers to take to work for lunch too...

LARB GAI (Makes approx 6 serves)

Ingredients

1/3 cup glutinous/jasmine rice

1/3-2/3 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 cup fish sauce (nam pla)

1 tbl sugar

2 tsp Roasted chilli paste chili-garlic sauce (nam prik pao)

100ml Chicken Stock

700g minced chicken

1 cup thinly sliced spring onion, finely chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

3 tbl minced lemongrass

1 tbl minced ginger or galangal

1 tbl thinly sliced (hot) Thai chilli

1/4 cup chopped fresh Vietnamese Mint

1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

small handful of green beans, chopped small.

Lettuce/Asian Cabbage Leaves, sliced cucumber and carrots to serve.

Method

1. Whisk lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chilli paste together in medium bowl to blend; reserve sauce.
2. Bring stock to simmer over medium heat. Add chicken. Simmer until cooked through, breaking up meat with spoon. Add onions, lemongrass, ginger/galangal and stir for a minute of so until most of liquid has evaporated. 
3. Meanwhile blanch the green beans in boiling water for one minute. Refresh under cold water once tender.
4. Remove chicken from heat. Stir in sauce, coriander, sliced chilli, green beans and mint. Season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool.
5. Toast rice in a dry pan for a few minutes until fragrant and lightly coloured. Grind into a coarse powder using a food processor or pestle and mortar.
6. Before serving, stir rice powder into chicken to add texture and partially soak up the sauce.
7. To serve, spoon into lettuce/cabbage leaves with finely sliced carrot and cucumber.