The Capsule Pantry: Spicy Thai Larb Salad
When salad and spice collide
The Capsule Pantry in one sentence: Save money, time, and food waste by adopting a Capsule Pantry approach — a small number of ingredients that form the basis of thousands of different, highly flexible recipes.
I visit the UK for two reasons. Family, and to eat the food I can’t easily find on the road.
And that includes a LOT of spice.
This week, I made something I’ve not made in many moons - Thai Larb salad. This is a recipe I’ve refined over the last 15 years or so after having the larb salad to end all larb salads during my honeymoon in Bangkok and I asked for the recipe.
Of course, this one is highly TCP-friendly.
We’re talking about mixing up a quick, fresh, zingy dressing to pour over either minced pork or finely chopped vegetables like mushrooms or eggplants.
We’re talking enough chili to blow your face off (if that’s how you like your chili).
We’re talking about a hands-on eating experience wrapping the salad into lettuce leaves to shove in your gob.
We’re talking about a healthy-diet-friendly dish too.
This salad can be eaten warm or cold depending on how you like it / how organized you are to make it beforehand. I like to cool the pork / vegetable mix a little before adding it to the dressing to stop the residual heat cooking the dressing which reduces its freshness.
There are plenty of extras you can add to this original recipe, check out the variations section below. I’ve also given some ideas for how to use up the non-capsule pantry ingredients this salad calls for like lemongrass, cilantro, and mint.
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Key: Bold = Capsule Pantry ingredients
Serves 4
500g / 1lb ground pork / finely chopped mushrooms or eggplant
4 tbsp soy sauce or fish sauce (or a mix of both)
4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice (around 1 fruit)
A small handful of a mixture of fresh cilantro and mint, finely chopped
1 lemongrass finely chopped
1-2 red chilies (depending on how hot you like your salad) finely chopped
3-4 lime leaves finely chopped (optional)
1 cup white rice
1 iceberg lettuce or two little gems
Make the dressing by combining the soy sauce, lemon or lime juice, herbs, chilies lemongrass, and lime leaves (if you’re using them).
Fry the pork/vegetables in a frying pan with a little oil over medium-high heat. Once the pork is browned - or the vegetables are soft - take off the heat and leave to cool whilst you make the rice.
I make white rice using the absorption method:
Use double the volume of water to rice (one cup rice = two cups water).
Rinse the rice as much as possible to reduce starchiness.
Place in a saucepan, add hot water, a pinch of salt, and a tiny dribble of oil (around 1tsp).
Bring to a simmer, stirring as little as possible until the water has been absorbed.
Check for done-ness and add a touch of water if needed.
Turn the rice off and leave it to steam and cool for a couple of minutes before serving.
Add the pork/vegetables to the dressing and mix well.
Peel off the lettuce leaves and place them in a pile for people to grab. These can be used by people to roll their own little wraps of Thai goodness.
Dietary restrictions
This dish is naturally gluten-free (ensure your soy sauce states gluten-free)
If you choose to make it with vegetables, it’s vegan-friendly.
To turn it soy-free, you can use fish sauce. Alas, as with much of Thai cooking, this dish won’t be possible to make if you can’t use fish or soy sauce.
The original recipe is nut-free so long as your soy sauce states as such.
The pork / vegetables
If you can’t get / don’t like ground pork, you can swap it for ground beef. I’ve also made this with leftover roast chicken finely chopped (if it’s already cooked, skip the frying stage).
As I say, eggplants and mushrooms are my go-to’s for a veggie version but you could also experiment with cubbed zucchini or even leeks.
The rice
My personal favorite rice to make with this dish is sticky rice. You can also make it with basmati or jasmine rice. Or add a small amount of coconut cream into the rice whilst cooking to make coconut rice.
Extras
An authentic larb salad will use toasted ground rice. Take around 1bsp of white rice and whack it in a dry frying pan on medium-high heat. Toss it around the pan until it colors (it’ll color quickly once it gets going to keep an eye on it). Take it out and ground it in a pestle and mortar. The rice adds a rich, toasty flavor to the dish.
You could add some chopped peanuts to this salad for extra texture.
If you don’t have/want to buy fresh chilies, use dried chili flakes. If you don’t like spice, you can leave them out entirely. It’s your salad.
If you’re not a fan of cilantro, omit it.
You could add chopped cucumber or tomatoes to the final mix.
Sometimes I’ll fry a finely chopped onion in with the ground pork for extra bulk.
Or you could add finely chopped scallions for garnish.
Lemongrass and lime leaves are optional if you don’t want to buy them / can’t find them.
If you don’t have lettuce, you can always skip it.
Use any leftover cilantro and mint in Turkish eggs.
Finely chop the lettuce and add it to spicy rice. Or braise it and toss it into The Salad or in this leek and orzo dish.
You can freeze both lemongrass and lime leaves to be used at another date. Both are great additions to most Thai curries.