About this recipe
Laap is one of the dishes most closely associated with Lao food: finely minced meat or fish tossed with a great quantity of fresh herbs, shallot, lime, chilli, fish seasoning and, in most versions, toasted ground rice (khao khua) that gives the salad its nutty aroma and gentle grip. It is eaten with sticky rice and a plate of raw vegetables, and it carries a certain celebratory weight at gatherings. It is a whole family of preparations that varies by region, community, meat and cook, and it is shared across the Mekong with northeastern Thailand rather than owned by one side of the river; this book presents a Lao form and logs those shared-origin questions for verification. It is sometimes made with raw meat (laap dib); the version here is written as a safe, fully cooked adaptation, and that difference is noted below.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Prep
- 25 minutes
- Cook
- 10 minutes
- Total
- 35 minutes
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Spice
- Medium to hot (adjust the dried chilli)
Allergens Contains poultry (or pork/beef) and, via padaek and fish sauce, fish and shellfish. Contains no dairy, gluten or coconut as written. Not vegetarian. See the halal-status field.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
The toasted ground rice (khao khua)
- 3 tbsp (40 g) raw glutinous (sticky) rice, or jasmine rice
The meat
- 1 lb (450 g) ground chicken (or ground pork or beef)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) water or light stock, for cooking the meat
The dressing and herbs
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) fish sauce
- 1 tbsp (15 g) padaek (Lao fermented fish), boiled and strained (see notes), or 1 more tbsp (15 ml) fish sauce
- 1 to 2 tsp (2 to 4 g) toasted dried-chilli flakes, to taste
- 3 shallots, thinly sliced
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped mint
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander
- 1/4 cup chopped sawtooth herb (culantro), if available
To serve
- Steamed sticky rice (recipe #91)
- Raw vegetables: long beans, wedges of cabbage, cucumber, lettuce
Equipment
- Small dry pan for toasting rice
- Mortar and pestle or spice grinder for the toasted rice
- Skillet or wok
- Large mixing bowl
Method
- Toast the rice: in a dry pan over medium heat, toast the raw glutinous rice, shaking often, until deep golden and fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Cool, then grind to a coarse powder. Set aside.
- Cook the meat: put the ground chicken in a skillet with the 1/4 cup water and cook over medium heat, breaking it up finely with a spoon, until fully cooked through and no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain off excess liquid and let it cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, combine the warm cooked meat with the lime juice, fish sauce, strained padaek (or extra fish sauce) and chilli flakes. Toss well.
- Add the shallots, scallions and 2 tablespoons of the toasted ground rice, and toss again.
- Fold in the mint, coriander and sawtooth herb just before serving so they stay fresh.
- Taste and adjust: it should be sharply sour, salty, spicy and intensely herbal. Add more lime, fish sauce or chilli as needed.
- Pile onto a plate, scatter with the remaining toasted ground rice, and serve at once with sticky rice and a plate of raw vegetables.
From the foundations
The book pairs this recipe with the following, from the sauces, sambals and pastes that open the collection.
The Complete Edition
Laap (Lao Minced Meat Salad) sits in the Laos chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Laos chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.