Thai Laab (pronounced Laarb) is a fantastic South-Asian recipe that remains one of my favorites because of its divine flavor and ease of preparation. You can make it with ground pork, chicken or beef; my preference is flank steak because of how quickly you can achieve a proper sear over intense wok heat while locking in flavor.
The fish sauce plays an integral part in this recipe, so don’t skimp on quality. I prefer Red Boat brand — a 17 oz. bottle will run you about twelve bucks but it is soooo worth the price.
Once combined, any leftover salad should not be reheated because the greens cannot take it – serve at room temperature with heated rice. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound flank steak, diced
2 tbs. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
1/2 tsp. coarse-ground black pepper
2 tbs. fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tbs. palm sugar (1 nugget)
For the Salad Greens~
Mint leaves
Baby spinach
Cilantro leaves
Thai queen basil (optional)
1 stalk scallion, whites and greens thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 radishes, thinly sliced and cut into slivers
2 tbs. fish sauce
Juice of two fresh-squeezed limes
Crushed Thai bird chili flakes to taste
2 Thai green chilies or Mexican Serranos, charred, seeded and thinly sliced
3 tbs. toasted ground jasmine rice (reserve 1 tbs. for garnish)
Garnish With~
Remaining 1 tbs. toasted ground jasmine rice
Fish sauce to taste
Crushed dried Thai bird pepper, to taste
Sliced fresh cucumber
Serve with Thai jasmine sticky rice
DIRECTIONS:
Allow the flank steak to come up to room temperature. Thinly slice against the grain and then dice into 1/2″ chunks. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, white and black pepper. Mix and set aside.
Prepare the salad greens by adding the mint, spinach, cilantro and parsley to a large mixing bowl. Use enough for the amount of guests you plan to serve. Add the scallion, shallot, radish, Thai queen basil, fish sauce, lime juice, dry chili flakes, green chilies and 2 tbs. toasted jasmine rice. Stir well to coat.
Heat a wok over high temperature until it smokes and add two tbs. peanut oil. Add the diced steak and spread around the wok to sear, then stir frequently until no longer pink. Add the palm sugar and mash with your wok shovel. Stir until dissolved and shut off the heat.
Add the steak to the salad greens and gently fold in. Serve with sticky rice and sliced cucumber. Garnish with the remaining toasted jasmine rice.
To prepare the toasted jasmine rice:
Heat 3 tbs. rice in a dry wok or heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently until lightly brown. Remove and finely crush in a mortar.
To prepare the sticky rice:
Heat 3 cups filtered water and 1 tbs. butter in a heavy sauce pan with a tight fitting lid. When it comes to a boil, add 1.5 cups dry jasmine rice, stir and cover tightly. Reduce the heat to low and let sit untouched for twenty minutes. Fluff and serve.
Serves 2-4
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