Larb, a boldly flavoured Laotian dish, often combines minced chicken, minced pork or other minced meat with dried chillies, spring onions, shallots, fish sauce, lime, fresh herbs and nutty toasted rice, which you can make yourself or find at Asian markets.
The dish also works with fish. In this quick fish version with raw salmon - thinly sliced, then topped over with the tossed herbs and dressing with gentle sprinkle of toasted rice. Serve with sticky rice, small wedges of green cabbage, cucumber spears or lettuce leaves.
1 small clove garlic, finely grated
2 stalks of lemongrass, very thinly sliced
Desirable amount of Chilli flakes, to taste
175g sushi-grade raw salmon
3-4 leaves sawtooth coriander
4 stalks of spring onion, chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves thinly sliced
2 Tbsp red onion or shallots, short julienne
3 birdseye chillies, chopped
1 Tbsp toasted rice powder
Make the dressing: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Slice the salmon thinly and arrange the pieces flat on a plate, making sure the pieces are touching.
Combine the herbs, onion and chillies in a small bowl.
Stir the toasted rice powder into the dressing, then pour most of the dressing over the herbs, reserving a little bit for a final drizzle.
Toss the herbs and place on top of the salmon, arranging it however you like. Pour the reserved dressing over the rest of the salmon - you don’t need to use all of the dressing if it looks like too much; you can always add more later.
Garnish with some extra herbs and red onion, then serve immediately.
(The lime juice will continue to cook the salmon like a ceviche if you don’t serve it quickly, so don’t assemble the dish until ready to serve!)