Thai Minced Chicken Salad

Minced chicken salad in red cabbage cups.

                              

With the unrelenting hotter-than-normally-hot weather that currently seems to be sweeping most of the Southeast Asian region, coming up with light dishes that require a minimal amount of time in front of the stove has been quite a challege. 

Since I live in a small condo unit, I have no desire to generate any kind of heat as much as possible. Believe it or not, I went on a ceviche diet for a whole week and a half! Both for lunch and dinner, every single day. I varied the type of seafood I used, of course. ¡And my oh my! ceviche is my waistline's best friend! They make the best of amigas and just play so well together. All those ceviches I've been stuffing my face with kicked out the extra fat of 5 lbs/2.27 kg (and then some) that have made my hips and thighs their home. It must be all that acid attacking all those unwanted wobbly, space-occupying suckers! Ceviche is one hell of a grasa (means 'fat' in Spanish, for those who don't know) warrior. Goodness grasa!

Inspite of the ceviche's grasa-fighting abilities, its inherent delicious taste and very appealing zero cooking time,  the desire for variety eventually takes over.  After passing by a Thai restaurant one broiling afternoon on my way home, I suddenly remembered the first time I ever tasted this light and refreshing salad called larb gai  I had after sight seeing in that equally broiling afternoon in Bangkok seven years ago.

Larb gai is a salad dish that originated from the northern part of Thailand which is now enjoyed all over the country.  It is a salad that is suited for those hot summer days.

If one can literally taste a literary great's writing style, I would say that the Thai larb gai is the culinary world's closest equivalent to the style of Ernest Hemingway's writing in that they use simple and ordinary ingredients that do not make such great statments individually.  Yet, when combined, they collectively make an unforgettable and unifed whole.  For the benefit of those who don't know, Hemingway is a well-known American writer who is renowned for his simple use of ingredients that come in the guise of using simple adjectives and sentences that are free of ornamentation. Much like  Hemingway's style of writing, the  Thai larb gai uses simple, rustic and the most disparate set of ingredients; yet, it is  simultaneously  refined and sophisticated in its fragrance, flavor and texure profiles that just seamlessly blend and flow into each other that leaves a wonderful taste in one's mouth.  Of course, if you don't like Hemingway's style, then this salad may leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Larb gai is composed of minced chicken that is seasoned with a smattering of fish sauce, scented with typical aromatic Asian herbs of lemongrass, chopped mint and cilantro/coriander leaves which are all bound together by ground toasted jasmine rice that  lends a nutty flavor and topped with coarsely chopped peanuts with a drizzle of lime as its finale that's accompanied by a memorable bite of heat from the red chillies to evoke wonderful memories of an equally wonderful, exotic country renowned and loved the world over for its complex cuisine.

Minced pork (aka ground pork) is also sometimes used.  This is usually eaten with raw vegetables.  I've seen this eaten with snake beans and cucumbers; however, the most common accompaniment would be raw green cabbage.  Just to give this dish a little spin, I decided to use red cabbage instead to liven things up a little.  Like most Thai dishes, the taste should be a balance of hot, sour and salty.  When I make this, I usually leave it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes before eating it.  If you're going to do this, add the herbs just when you're about to eat it. It's a great way to beat the heat.  However, in Thailand, this is served at room temperature, but never hot and fresh right out of the pan. .

Minced Chicken Salad
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp jasmine rice
2 tsp (10 ml) oil
1 lb   (400 g) chicken, minced
2 tbsp (30 ml) fish sauce
1 stem lemongrass, finely chopped, using just the white parts
1/3 cup (80 ml) chicken stock
3 tbsp (45 ml)  lime juice
4 red Asian shallots (substitute red onions if unavailable)
1/2 cup (25 g) fresh cilantro/coriander, finely chopped
1/2 cup (25 g) fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup (40 g) roasted chopped peanuts
1 small fresh bird's eye chlli, thinly sliced 
4-6 leaves of red cabbage
1 whole lime, cut into wedges

Note:  With Asian chillies, the general rule is:  The smaller the chilli, the more heat it contains.

Directions:

1. In a heated frying pan, dry-fry the rice until it turns to the light golden brown color as the upper right-hand corner.

2. Grind the toasted rice into a powder.  See photo.

3. Dry- roast the peanuts in heated frying pan.





4. Chop the roasted peanuts roughly.  See bottom picture.


5. Over medium heat, add the oil and chicken. Cook until it loses its pink color. Make sure to break any lumps. Add the fish sauce, lemongrass, stock. Cook for another 10 minutes. Cool.

6. Add the lime, shallots, coriander/cilantro, mint and ground rice. Mix well

7. Arrange the red cabbage leaves on a serving platter and fill each cup with the chicken mixture.  Sprinkle with ground peanuts and chillies.  Serve with lime wedges.


Note: I've tried this with iceberg lettuce, they also go quite well together even though it's not traditionally done in Thailand.