Can I make the Thai Laab Gai salad in advance?

Yes, you can make the salad in advance and store it in the refrigerator before serving.

Is Thai Laab Gai salad suitable for children?

Thai Laab Gai salad can be quite spicy due to the chili peppers, so it's important to adjust this to children's taste. For example, you can use fewer chili peppers or omit them altogether.

What exactly is Laab Gai and where does it come from?

Laab Gai (sometimes written as Larb Gai) is a hugely popular Thai salad that originated in northeastern Thailand (the Isan region) and Laos. It's essentially a type of 'meat salad'. Instead of heaps of lettuce, flavorful, spicy minced meat takes center stage, traditionally seasoned with lime juice, fish sauce, and plenty of fresh herbs. Super fresh!

Can I use a different kind of ground meat in this salad?

Although 'Gai' literally means chicken, you can easily adapt this recipe to your own taste. It's also incredibly delicious with lean minced pork (Laab Moo) or minced beef (Laab Nuea). Just make sure the mince isn't too finely ground, as that lovely, grainy texture is precisely what makes this salad so unique.

What can I substitute for fish sauce if I don't have any?

Fish sauce gives that typical, salty umami flavour to Thai salad. Don't have it on hand or not a fan? You can replace it with a good soy sauce or light tamari, along with an extra pinch of salt. But believe me: the fish sauce evaporates and blends so well with the lime juice that it doesn't taste 'fishy' at all!

Thai Laab Gai salad

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30min

•

Easy

Today, we're travelling in our own kitchen to sunny Thailand, because we're making an absolute winner: a crispy fresh Thai Laab Gai salad. Believe me, this is one of those healthy salads that instantly makes me happy. It's a deliciously spicy, fresh, and super flavourful Thai salad with juicy minced chicken, plenty of fresh herbs like mint and coriander, and those typical Eastern kicks of lime and fish sauce.

The secret to a truly good Laab Gai? It's the flavourings! We fry the minced chicken with plenty of lemongrass, garlic, and chili flakes, and finish it with marinated red onion. The result? A fantastic Asian dish that's packed with flavour, super easy to prepare. Perfect for a summer evening or a quick, light weekday meal.

Today, we're travelling in our own kitchen to sunny Thailand, because we're making an absolute winner: a crispy fresh Thai Laab Gai salad. Believe me, this is one of those healthy salads that ...

Ingredients

What do you need?

Quantity: 4P

3 cloves of garlic
4 tbsp very finely chopped lemongrass
1 tsp chili flakes
3 tbsp peanut oil
800 g minced organic chicken, not too finely ground
Pepper and salt
3 spring onions finely chopped
1 handful of coriander and mint, roughly chopped
3 limes 6 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp honey
1 romaine lettuce, washed
1 large red onion
1 large chili pepper
1 cucumber

Preparation method

How do you make this?

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Take a saucepan, finely chop the garlic and sauté with the lemongrass and chili in oil for 2-3 minutes.

Add the minced chicken and mash everything well to achieve a grainy texture.

Season with pepper and salt.

Cut the onion in half, finely chop one half, and slice the other half into fine strips and place in a bowl.

Grate the zest of 1 lime over the strips and squeeze 6 tbsp of lime juice over it, also mix in the honey and let it sit for a while.

Add the finely chopped onion, spring onion, and finely chopped chili to the minced meat, add fish sauce and briefly sauté again, then fold in the marinated onion strips.

Slice the cucumber into rounds.

Divide the lettuce and cucumber onto 4 plates and top with the Laab.

Sprinkle with mint and coriander and serve with some lime wedges.

Serve optionally with basmati rice.