Chicken Larb Bowls - The Most Popular Recipe From My 2nd Book (2024)

FAQs

Where did chicken Larb come from? ›

While typically perceived as Thai, larb actually originated in Laos — where it is largely considered the national dish! Over time, the dish migrated and became popular in Thailand. Today, the dish is regional to both Laos and Isan, the northeastern region of Thailand.

Because laab is mostly meat, it is served with a lot of raw vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce leaves, cucumber and long beans. It is also always served with sticky rice.

Laotian Larb is technically a salad (a meal with small pieces), but made mostly with meat! It gets its wonderful flavor from fresh herbs, shallots, fish sauce, lime juice, a few spices and most importantly, the unique ingredient of toasted rice.

1 serving of larb gai (Lunch) contains 554 Calories. The macronutrient breakdown is 53% carbs, 26% fat, and 21% protein. This is a good source of protein (54% of your Daily Value), fiber (27% of your Daily Value), and potassium (21% of your Daily Value).

The name derived from the full word of "จิ๊นลาบ", the word "จิ๊น" means animal meat while "ลาบ" means to chop into smaller pieces or mince in Lanna script (closely linked to Tai Tham). Laab was enjoyed in both raw or cooked forms depends on the likings.

Beef larb tends to have spicy heat followed by salty and sour flavours. Bitter larb gets its signature taste from the animal's digestive juices. Back to the fish version, that distinctive tartness adds a brightness to the dish's texture,” explained Saehu.

Serve the larb with rice, Bibb or butter lettuce leaves, lime wedges, quick-pickled onions, more sambal oelek, and torn herbs like cilantro, basil, and mint.

The minced pork is wonderfully seasoned with fish sauce, chili flakes, lime juice, toasted sticky rice to give it some crunchy texture, and a wonderful assortment of fresh herbs to bring it all together. If you've eaten larb (ลาบ), I'm sure you love it, but if you've never tried it, you're in for a real treat!

You can serve chicken larb warm, or lightly chilled making it a refreshing and light meal. I love serving chicken larb in bowl form with steamed rice, cucumbers, lettuce cups, and loads of fresh herbs. Chicken larb bowls are an easy and economic dinner recipe that you'll turn to again and again!

Why? Authentic larb gai is made with padaek which is a fermented fish made into a thick fish sauce. Fermented fish is what makes larb smell. If you can't get over the smell, this is one of the ingredients that can be omitted from the recipe without any substitutions.

What is Vietnamese larb? ›

Larb, which means "chopped up" in Thai, is a minced meat salad made from virtually any protein — pork, chicken, beef, duck, or fish.

A ground beef dish that originated from Northern Thailand. The larb is sweet from the natural taste of beef and the sugar, yet slightly tart from the lime and fish sauce.

Terry Ho's The Original Yum Yum Sauce (2 tbsp) contains 5g total carbs, 5g net carbs, 17g fat, 0g protein, and 170 calories.

Tom yum has fewer than 100 calories per cup. It also has shrimp, veggies, and fragrant spices, such as lemongrass. Tom yum and other broth-based soups, like tofu-vegetable or wonton, are usually lower in fat and calories than soups made with coconut milk, such as tom kha.

Often said to be the national dish of Laos, laab (frequently seen on Thai-restaurant menus as “larb”) is essentially a salad made from ground meat and herbs, laced with fish sauce and lime juice and topped with a powder made from dry ground rice.

The origin of laap, a dish in the same family as larb but including raw meat and blood, is debatable, as people from both northern and northeastern Thailand claim the dish.

Pad Thai was created during the dictatorship of Plaek Pibulsonggram, known as Phibun, who ruled Thailand for two periods: 1938-1944 and 1948-1957. This ruler made the request to create a dish that would be an emblem for the country and that would make Thai cuisine stand out in the world.

Yes, laab and larb are the same thing. The same goes for laap and larp. That said, laab and laap provide much better approximations of the correct pronunciation for the word in Thai, as the "ar" sound in English resembles the Thai pronunciation the least. With that out of the way, we can turn to the recipe.