History

Larb (or laap) originated in Laos and the Isaan northeast, where it is the dish of celebrations. The word means 'good fortune'. Bangkok adopted larb through the same labour migration that brought som tam and gai yang. Som Tam Jay So, Supanniga Eating Room and Khua Kling Pak Sod run defensible versions in town.

Common allergens: Fish sauce

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 20 minTotal 35 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 500g minced chicken or duck (use thigh meat for richer flavour)
  • 100ml chicken stock or water
  • 3 tbsp lime juice
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp toasted rice powder (khao khua), plus more to serve
  • 1 to 2 tbsp Thai chilli flakes (adjust to heat)
  • 1 tsp palm sugar
  • 4 shallots, sliced thin
  • 4 spring onions, sliced thin
  • 1 large bunch coriander, chopped
  • 1 small bunch fresh mint, leaves only
  • 1 small bunch saw-leaf coriander (cilantro), chopped
  • Sticky rice in bamboo baskets, to serve
  • Wedges of cucumber, raw cabbage and long beans, to serve
  • Extra lime wedges, to serve

Method

  1. To make toasted rice powder, dry-toast 4 tbsp Thai sticky rice in a small pan over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes until deep golden, shaking the pan. Cool, then grind in a mortar or spice grinder to a coarse powder.
  2. Heat a wide pan over medium heat. Add the chicken stock and let it come to a simmer.
  3. Crumble the minced chicken into the simmering stock, stirring and breaking up the meat as it cooks. Cook 4 to 5 minutes until just cooked through but still tender; do not brown.
  4. Take off the heat. Drain off most of the cooking liquid, leaving the meat moist.
  5. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, toasted rice powder, chilli flakes and palm sugar to the warm meat. Stir well.
  6. Fold in the sliced shallots, spring onions, coriander, mint and saw-leaf coriander. Taste; the dish should be sharp, hot, salty and fragrant in equal measure.
  7. Pile onto a serving plate. Sprinkle extra toasted rice powder on top.
  8. Serve at once with sticky rice, raw cabbage, cucumber, long beans for scooping, and extra lime wedges.

Tip from the editors. Larb is served warm, not chilled; the heat blooms the herbs. Pinch a wedge of sticky rice, dip through the larb, and eat with raw cabbage on the side.

Where to eat larb

Larb in Bangkok

Som Tam Jay So ★ 4.5

Isan Papaya Salad฿silom-sathorn

Som Tam Jay So in Bangkok's Sathorn is the Bib Gourmand papaya-salad room from a sai-mok northeastern Thai recipe lineage. Located in Silom Sathorn.

Signature: Som tam Thai, Som tam pu pla ra, Grilled chicken

Order: Som tam Thai with grilled chicken and a basket of sticky rice; ask for medium spice.

Tip: Cash and PromptPay only. Lunch and early dinner 10:30-19:30; closed Sundays.

402/16 Soi Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 3, Yan Nawa, Sathon, Bangkok 10120

Supanniga Eating Room Tha Tien ★ 4.6

Trat and Khon Kaen Heritage Thai฿฿฿old-town

Supanniga Eating Room in Bangkok's Tha Tien serves grandmother-recipe Trat and Khon Kaen Thai dishes opposite Wat Pho, with a sister branch on Sukhumvit 55.

Signature: Moo cha muang, Yum tomato pomelo, Khao soi

Order: The moo cha muang (pork in cha muang leaf), the yum tomato pomelo salad and a side of khao soi.

Tip: Closed Mondays for the Tha Tien location. Ask for the second-floor balcony seat overlooking the temple at sunset.

392/25-26 Maha Rat Road, Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200

Khua Kling Pak Sod ★ 4.4

Southern Thai฿฿thonglor-ekkamai

Khua Kling Pak Sod in Bangkok's Thonglor is the canonical southern-Thai family room, dry-spiced beef khua kling, sator stir-fry and crab curry on mountain.

Signature: Khua kling beef, Crab curry, Sator pork stir-fry

Order: Khua kling beef on rice, sator pork stir-fry and a coconut sticky-rice dessert.

Tip: Heat scale is real; ask for the western-tongue version if you cannot handle full southern spice levels.

98/1 Soi Thonglor 5, Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110

Soi Polo Fried Chicken ★ 4.2

Fried chicken฿฿Until 21:00Cash only

Polo Fried Chicken in Bangkok's Soi Polo is the Bib Gourmand garlic-fried-chicken room, open until 21:00 daily with half birds blanketed in crispy fried.

Try: Garlic fried chicken (gai tod)

Tip: Cash only. Last orders 20:30. Half a fried chicken with som tam Thai and sticky rice is the canonical late-dinner order.

137/1-3 Soi Polo, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330

More cities are in research. Want larb covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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