Classic Thai dressing of lime juice, fish sauce, chilli and sugar turns minced pork into a delicious salad. The secret ingredient is toasted rice powder for a lovely nutty flavour and a thick coating texture. Add coriander and mint and serve with fresh salad greens.
Thai Pork ‘Laab’ Salad
1 tbsp raw glutinous rice*
400g (14 oz) pork mince
¼ cup finely sliced Asian red shallots
¼ cup roughly chopped coriander
½ cup mint leaves
cabbage, snake beans and extra herbs, to serve
rice, to serve (optional)
Dressing:
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp grated palm sugar or brown sugar
2 tsp chilli flakes (or to taste)
2 tbsp lime juice
- For the dressing, mix ingredients and set aside until ready to serve.
- Toast the rice in a dry frying pan over high heat until golden brown. Remove from heat and use a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder to grind rice to a fine powder.
- Cook pork mince in a non-stick frying pan until just cooked. Remove from heat and transfer the pork to a large bowl. While the pork is warm, add the shallots and toss. Add dressing and the toasted rice powder and mix to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more chilli powder, fish sauce and/or lime juice if needed.
- When you’re happy with the flavour, add the coriander and mint leaves and mix well. Serve warm with cabbage, beans, herbs and steamed rice.
- Notes: – Using glutinous or sticky rice will give you a softer rice powder that creates a thick and soft coating for the finished salad. If glutinous rice is unavailable you can still use regular long grain or jasmine rice to add a similar toasty flavour with a slightly crunchier texture.
