Laap is the national dish of Laos and is a healthy low fat, low carb, low calorie meal that tastes fresh and light. There aren’t many ingredients in this recipe so don’t skip any as they are all key. J not being much of a “meat” person lately was surprised at how much she liked this wonderful little dish. Again for the record, this is a quick and easy version of the recipe that only uses the key ingredients that I feel make laap what it is. As with all dishes there are many many versions, this is mine (though I had help from here and here).
Laap
Don’t even try and skip or eliminate any of these ingredients, especially the coarse rice powder.
- Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground turkey or chicken
- 1/2 lime
- 1/4 c. uncooked brown rice
- 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
- 1-1/2 T. fish sauce
- 1/2 lime
- 1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
- Preparation
Squeeze 1/2 lime over ground meat and mix. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes.
Pour uncooked rice into an ungreased skillet that’s been preheated to a med-high heat. Stirring frequently to prevent burning, cook until golden brown. Once it’s finished grind into a coarse powder and set aside.
Now brown the ground meat with garlic. Once meat is cooked through drain out the extra liquid. Add fish sauce and squeeze other 1/2 of lime and stir. Add cilantro stir again and then add the coarse rice powder and stir. Taste, add 1/4 t. of sea salt if you want.
Next slice some raw green cabbage keeping pieces fairly big (a size you like) and place on a plate. Scoop some Laap placing it next to the cabbage. A perfect combo if I do say so myself with no need for rice (extra carbs, calories, etc.). Although you can eat it with rice, preferably sticky rice.
Healthy = Happy!