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I’ve never made Thai Larb before. In fact, I never even tried it while in Thailand. I know, what kind of person am I? I truly feel like I’ve been missing out because holy moly, it’s good!
I found out about this quick and easy Thai dish from my friend Alex of @thedefineddish. If I’m not mistaken, she’s made it a couple of times on her IG stories and every time she does it looks delicious. Not sure what took me so long to try it for myself. If you want to check out her recipe you can click here. She mentions that ground pork is her meat of choice so I was very happy when I was digging through my freezer and found some ground wild boar tucked away for a rainy day!
This Thai Larb recipe is based off of Alex’s for the most part, with a few minor adjustments. I didn’t have shallots, so I used red onion. I didn’t have Thai basil or mint so I stuck with fresh cilantro. Lastly, I didn’t have Thai bird chilies so I used jalapeño. If you have the ingredients I did not, use them! It will undoubtedly make this a much tastier dish.
I also slightly altered the cooking directions – don’t kill me, Alex! Personally, I like to brown the meat before sautéeing the aromatics. I find that it helps develop more flavour and also allows for more control over the rendered fat from the pork (in this case wild boar). In other words, when you brown the meat, shallots and garlic together, the veggies will inevitably absorb some of the rendered fat in the meat. Moreover, the meat won’t brown as nicely due to the moisture being drawn out from the aromatics. Yes, browning the meat first is an additional step but it’s one that I think is worth taking, especially when cooking with pork which tends to be quite fatty. By browning the meat first, you can discard as much or as little rendered fat as you wish. If using beef or chicken you will not have this problem so feel free to follow Alex’s instructions.
Oh, one last thing, I did add a splash or two of coconut aminos to the sauce. It adds a beautiful, caramel colour to the meat and imparts some sweetness that balances the umami of the fish sauce and acid from the citrus.
Whole30 Thai Larb
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground pork, or wild boar
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely julienned
- 1 Jalapeño, finely chopped
- 2 stalks lemongrass, outer skin removed, bashed and chopped into 3" pieces
- 1 handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped, plus extra for garnish
- 3 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp compliant fish sauce, such as Red Boat
- juice of 1/2 lime, plus extra for serving
- sliced chilies, for garnish
- 1 fried egg, for garnish
- 1/2 pinch kosher salt
- sliced cucumbers, for serving
About the Author
Hi, i'm Ronny! In 2013, after a lifetime of struggling with my weight and body issues, I rehabilitated my relationship with food, lost over 40 pounds and completely changed my life.
