lab kai (spicy ground chicken)
Lab is an easy, quick to make "spicy" dish (it can be, and often is fierily hot). I have seen it on Thai restaurant menus in America and Britain described as "chicken salad Thai style", which might be the best description for this dish. It can be made with beef (lab nuea) or pork (lab muu) instead of chicken, and it can be made with precooked left-over poultry or meat instead. It can even be made with chopped up luncheon meat or something like SPAM (tm) ... I leave it to your imagination. However in the part
of Thailand I live in it is almost always a chicken recipe.
Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons of lime juice
2-3 tablespoons of chicken stock
2-3 tablespoons of fish sauce (nam pla)
4-6 teaspoons of prik phom (ground dried red chilis - not "chilli powder" as sold in western supermarkets!)
1 tablespoon khao koor (ground toasted rice)
3-4 shallots (purple onions) chopped
half a stalk of lemon grass very thinly sliced
1 [kaffir] lime leaf shredded, or 1 teaspoon lime zest
1-2 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced
1 teaspoon powdered galangal (kha phom - available in most oriental supermarkets)
4 ounces of chicken
garnish
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lettuce, parlsey, sliced raddish and mooli, coriander leaves.method
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Line a serving dish with the lettuce leaves.
Chop the chicken (in a food processor, or with two cleavers, or get the butcher to do it for you...)
In a fairly high wok, with a very small amount of oil, stir fry the chicken until it just starts to turn whitish, then add all the remaining ingredients (if using precooked meat, simply add everything to a hot wok together), and stir until heated through and the chicken is cooked.
Serve on the bed of lettuce leaves and garnish to taste. Serve with steamed sticky rice (if you prefer you can use jasmine rice) and a dish of mixed [raw] fresh vegetables, and the usual Thai table condiments (prik nam pla, prik dong, prik phom and sugar).
The usual way to eat this is to take a small ball of sticky rice in the fingers and use it to pick up a little lab, then eat it with the raw veggies. You can also use a fork and spoon as a lot of Thais do...
Special thanks to - Muoi Khuntilanont.
Tiparos Thai Fish Sauce 23 Oz. X 2 Blt.
Ermmm. Have to say that I've never seen anybody in this country put bean sprout in this kind of food.
And I don't think that is good for this dish, anyway very thank to the auther of this recipe.