Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Larb

Tonight I made Larb for dinner.  And it was marvelous!  Larb is a Thai dish that is often served as an appetizer.  It is a luscious blend of ground turkey, red onion, Serrano pepper and a delicious sauce - served in tender butter-lettuce cups.  A dinner serving was two cups with a side of Japanese rice made in our rice cooker - a must for any authentic Asian meal. 

I have made other Larb recipes, but none compared with this one.   My son and I both loved it.  He ate the leftovers today - cold - and said they were delicious.  The recipe was from one of my new favorite cooking magazines:  the Food Network Magazine.  I confess that I am an avid fan of the Food Network and the magazine features recipes by many of the cooks I have come to know and love, and even had an eye-opening article on how the show Chopped (my favorite TV show) is filmed.    The recipe for Turkey Larb was in the May 2013 issue and is as follows:

For the dressing:
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1-3 T. fresh lemon juice (I used 2)
2 T. fish sauce (can be found in the Asian section of your supermarket)
2 T. Honey

For the Larb:
3 T. vegetable or canola oil (I used 2 T. canola)
1/2 medium red onion, diced
3 small shallots, thinly sliced
1 4-inch piece lemongrass, minced (about 1/4 cup)
1 Thai chile (such as prik kee noo) or Serrano chile, stemmed and thinly sliced (I wore gloves to stem and remove the seeds from my Serrano chile)
Kosher Salt
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (I used 1 pound ground breast meat)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
Freshly ground pepper
1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated

1.  Make the dressing in a small bowl; whisk the lime juice, lemon juice, fish sauce, and honey, and set aside.
2.  Make the larb;  In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, shallots, lemongrass, and chile, and salt to taste.  Cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the turkey and season with salt..  Cook, stirring frequently, until the meat and vegetables are cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Add the dressing to the pan and cook 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the mint leaves.  Season with salt and pepper.
3.  Spoon larb mixture into lettuce leaves and serve. 

I hope you will try this healthy and satisfyingly delicious meal.  Until next time, happy and healthy eating!



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