Larb with Cabbage Cups
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Laos
This is a fun way to eat your cabbage and meat. Great, delicious flavors and who doesn’t love eating with their hands!?
Ingredients
- ½ c. raw skin-on peanuts
- 2 Tbsp. Driftless Sunflower Oil (or a neutral oil)
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped coarsely
- 1 lb ground pork, beef or lamb (or combo!)
- Kosher salt
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced into rings
- 1-4 Cayenne Peppers, deseeded and deveined
- (***1 was a nice spice for this Midwest girl, add more if you like it spicy***)
- 2 lemongrass stalk, bottom third only, tough outer layers removed, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp. Fresh lime juice
- 1 Tbsp +1 tsp fish sauce
- ¼ – ½c. torn mint leaves
- ¼ head of sweetheart cabbage, halved crossways, leaves separated
- Cooked short-grain rice and lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Toast peanuts on rimmed baking sheet, tossing halfway. When nuts are golden brown, 6-8 min, they are done. Let cool. Coarsely chop and set aside.
- Heat oil in large saucepan. When oil is shimmering, add garlic.
- Cook, smashing garlic down on cloves to break into smaller pieces for about 3 min. Push garlic to side, add ground meat and a pinch of salt. Cook, smashing and stirring meat and garlic together until no clumps remain and meat is no longer pink (about 4 min).
- Mix in onion, chiles, lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce and half of peanuts.
- Let larb cool slightly, then stir in mint. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
- Transfer larb to a large bowl. Serve with cabbage, rice, lime wedges and remaining peanuts.
- ***If you want a crunch, eat cabbage raw. If you want to use the cabbage like a tortilla, blanch the outer leaves to make them more pliable.***