Description
Chicken laab is a staple dish in Hmong, Thai and Laotian cuisine. It’s light, refreshing and bursting with so much flavor.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 chicken breast + cutlet, boneless and skin-on (650g)
- cooking oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced (15g)
- 3 tbsp lime juice, or to taste
- 1½ tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
- 1 tbsp toasted rice powder, plus extra for garnish
- dried red chili pepper, to taste
- fresh thai chili pepper (if you like it extra spicy)
- 1 tbsp lemongrass, minced and pounded
- shallots, thinly sliced (40g)
- mint
- cilantro, chopped (25g)
- lettuce (butter, romaine, etc)
Instructions
- Thoroughly dry the chicken with paper towels to remove excess moisture – this will ensure a nice sear. Mince it with a butcher knife until you get a chunky, paste-like consistency. Or, use ground chicken to skip this step (though I prefer the texture of hand minced).
- Heat a thin layer of oil in a large wok or pan on high heat and add the minced garlic. Stir for about 30 seconds until you can smell the aroma, then add the chicken breast. Continuously break it apart into small pieces and spread it around the wok so it can sear nicely. It took me 4 minutes to cook the chicken, but the time will vary based on your pan size, heat level and size of chicken.
- Transfer the cooked chicken into a large bowl and mix it several times to help it cool down. In the meantime, prepare the herbs and aromatics. Chop the cilantro and peel the mint off the stems. Also prepare the lemongrass by removing the tough outer layers until the soft flesh near the root is exposed. Mince it into fine pieces, then grind it in a mortar and pestle. The remaining lemongrass can be stored for later in the fridge or freezer for stock. Next, thinly slice the shallots and place in an ice bath to crisp up.
- Add in all of the herbs and seasonings once the chicken has cooled down, but start with less lime juice and fish sauce and add more as needed based on your personal preference. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle extra toasted rice powder on top. Serve with lettuce and/or white rice & enjoy!
Notes
All of these ingredients and my favorite brands for cooking can be found here on my Amazon Storefront page!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
Keywords: hmong, thai, laotian, chicken laab, larb