Larb Gai

You can find all of these ingredients at your local Asian store.

Begin by adding the oil to a large skillet and warm it to a medium, high heat. Once the oil is heated, add the ground chicken and begin cooking until it is browned and fully cooked. Make sure you break it all up with a wooden spoon as you do not want any clumps. This is will take about 10 to 15 minutes.

During this time, prepare the remaining ingredients by chopping and mincing the herbs and vegetables. To toast the rice, add about 1/2 cup of rice to a dry skillet. Bring it to medium heat, and give it a good shake about every 2-3 minutes. Your goal is to brown the rice, and once brown, remove it from the heat and add it to a coffee grinder to make into a coarse powder (you should have about 1/3 cup of powder after it’s ground).

Once the chicken is fully cooked, drain off any excess water and grease from the chicken, then add the chicken to a mixing bowl.

Add in the rice powder and all of the remaining ingredients (except the cooked Jasmine rice), and give it a good mix. If you are serving kids, I would suggest removing the chile peppers from this recipe, or divide the mixture before adding the chile peppers. I would recommend 1-2 chile peppers for the mild at heart, and 3-4 chile peppers for those that love the heat. Regardless if it is one chile or four, the balance is perfect.

Serve in a small bowl with a side of rice. My entire family loves larb. It is just packed with flavor. That sweet, salty, spiciness is just something out of this world, and I think you would agree. Better yet, you have just had something you have never tried before, toasted rice and maybe fish sauce and sticky rice too.