Print Thai minced chicken with Little Gem leaves
Inspired by the Thai dish called larp, larb or laap, this chicken dish has a beautiful balance of freshness, crunch and spiciness. There are quite a few ingredients, but preparing and assembling them is simple. Little Gem is particularly good for scooping up the meat, but any other lettuce you'd like will also be fine.
Ingredients
- for the dressing:
- 1 large mild red chilli, deseeded & finely shredded for garnish
- 1-3 small red chillies (ideally bird's-eye) to taste, deseeded & very finely chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 3 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- for the chicken:
- 1-2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
- 1 small onion, very finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 500g chicken fillet, minced or finely chopped
- 4 kaffir lime leaves, very finely shredded or 2 stalks lemongrass, soft lower stem only, finely chopped
- Handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- Handful fresh basil or Thai basil leaves, roughly chopped
- Few fresh mint, roughly chopped
- 2-3 heads Little Gem, washed & trimmed, leaves separated
Method
- Make the dressing by combining all ingredients. Add the chilli gradually if you are unsure of how much to use. The dressing should taste hot, sour and salty.
- For the chicken, heat the oil in a heavy frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until softened.
- Raise the heat, add the garlic and chicken and stir fry until the chicken is opaque and cooked but not dry.
- Immediately add the lime leaves or lemongrass, stir again and remove from the heat.
- Pour the dressing over the chicken and stir again. Taste for seasoning and add most of the herbs, reserving some for garnish.
- Arrange the lettuce leaves around the border of a serving plate or bowl, stalk ends pointing towards the centre of the dish.
- Pile the chicken into the middle and scatter with the remaining herbs.
- Eat from the plate communally, using the lettuce leaves like spoons to scoop up the chicken, or serve each person some chicken and leaves on individual plates.
- Serve with Thai jasmine rice for a more substantial meal.
