Hi everyone! I know I’ve mentioned that I am not a fan of Asian food. I can do sushi once or twice a year, and every time we go out for Chinese, which is one of my husband’s favorite cuisines, I get the hot and sour soup (Red Ginger has an amazing hot and sour soup!) and an order of chicken wings. The one Asian cuisine I really do like is Thai. A coconutty, spicy green curry is fantastic, and one of my favorite dishes is larb.
I’m not sure if larb is actually Thai or Laotian, but I used to find it regularly in Thai restaurants. I really got into larb when we lived in the DC area. Our local Thai restaurants didn’t make their dishes very spicy, but the flavor of the larb was always incredible, so I always ordered the larb. Larb is traditionally served as a salad or appetizer, but I find it makes a great light dinner when put inside a lettuce wrap. It’s also perfect to bring to potlucks or parties (the Superbowl crowd loves it). It can be served hot, warm, or room temperature, so you don’t need to worry about the temperature.
In restaurants, I usually see larb made with ground chicken. The chicken is delicious, but I find the chicken meat to be a little light, and to me it seems to get lost in the dish, especially mixed with all the other flavors. I prefer to use ground turkey. I like to use the ground mixture of both white and dark meat. I think that mixture really holds up and shines even when combined with the other ingredients.
You may not have all the ingredients on hand in the pantry. The dried Thai chiles keep forever. To rehydrate them, just let them soak in water for about an hour. We like our Thai food spicy, so I use 5 Thai chiles in this recipe. If you aren’t sure about adding too much spice, you can try 3 or 4 for the first batch, then adjust after that.
Lemongrass may be a little dauting to work with initially, but the food processor does most of the work. I chop off the tough end and remove the tough outer leaves. Then for this recipe, I just chop it in rounds until I get close to the top, and it chops up really well with the garlic.
The coconut sugar lasts a really long time as well, when stored in an air-tight container, but you can definitely substitute a light brown sugar. If you do use light brown sugar instead, just cut down on the amount. I’d use about a ½ tsp of brown sugar to substitute for 1 tsp coconut sugar.
You can use any kind for lettuce for the wrap part of this dish. Some of the best choices are iceberg, bibb or Boston. They are all pretty sturdy and hold up well to the larb. But my favorite is Artisanal Romaine. I find it in Costco. They are the cutest miniature heads of romaine, about 6-7 inches tall. Each leaf has a strong rib, and they are absolutely perfect for wraps.
Remember that the Thai chiles need to be rehydrated. To rehydrate them, just let them soak in water for about an hour. I have to admit that I sometimes forget to rehydrate the chiles first, then I’m kind of stuck waiting for them.
Here is the recipe I use for Turkey Larb Lettuce Wraps:
Turkey Larb Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
2 lemongrass stalks, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
½ bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
2 tbsp red onion, minced
5-6 dried red Thai chiles (you might want to start with 3)
½ cup salted roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
Juice of 2 small limes
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp coconut sugar (or ½ tsp light brown sugar)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb ground turkey
Instructions
Place the chopped lemongrass and garlic cloves in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the cilantro, onion and one of the Thai chiles to the food processor. Pulse to combine.
Roughly chip the peanuts and set aside.
Finely chop the remaining rehydrated Thai chiles (seeds and all) and set aside.
Whisk the lime juice, fish sauce and coconut sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
Put the vegetable oil in a large skillet. Cook the ground turkey in the skillet over medium heat until almost cooked through. Add the lime juice, fish sauce and coconut sugar mixture to the turkey and continue cooking until the turkey is finished cooking and brown. Remove the turkey from the skillet and set aside.
Add the contents of the food processor into the skillet and cook over medium until soft, about 4 minutes.
Add the turkey back into the skillet and stir to combine. Sprinkle the reserved peanuts and Thai chiles to the skillet and continue to stir until everything is well mixed.
Serve with lettuce wraps and lime wedges. You can garnish with cilantro leaves, if you want to get fancy!
