Larb

I recently come across two posts about larb which looked really interesting (here and here). Larb, also called laab, laap, or larp, is a Lao meat salad that is made with ground meat and flavoured with chilies and mint and often served at room temperature. What I found most interesting about this dish was all of the fresh herbs; mint, cilantro, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and lime. It sounded really amazing. This weekend I once again went looking for kaffir lime leaves and this time I found them. They were at the same place that I found the lemon grass and the Thai basil. I did not expect some of the herbs to be in a refrigerated unit. The kaffir lime leaves taste pretty interesting. They were a bit tough and I will have to make sure to chop them finely in the future. I decided to add some palm sugar to the salad to balance out the heat, sour and saltiness that were already present. I really liked the idea of topping the larb with crushed peanuts so I went with that. The salad turned out to be really good. It tasted super fresh and the dressing was nicely balanced. I added the herbs right after taking the meat off of the heat and they wilted. The next time I make this I think I will let the meat cool to room temperature before adding the herbs so that they will stay fresher.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 pound ground turkey
2 shallots (chopped)
1 stalk lemon grass (chopped)
1 lime (juice and zest)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar (grated)
2 kaffir lime leaves (chopped)
2 tablespoons chili sauce
1/4 cup mint (chopped)
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
1/2 cup peanuts (crushed)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the turkey and brown.
3. Add the shallots and lemongrass and saute until tender.
4. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl.
5. Let the meat cool a bit and mix in everything else except the peanuts.
6. Serve with a peanut garnish on top.

Take a look at Weekend Herb Blogging at Kalyn's Kitchen.