As they say here, my spice tolerance has gone up.
Larb is prepared with either mu or gai (chicken). Sometimes I’m able to find a restaurant that has larb tofu, which is my favorite type of larb. First, the cooks will fry the meat in a big wok, an Asian frying pan, with lime juice and oil. The lime juice must contribute to that fresh and sweet flavor that I tasted in the larb! After cooking the chicken, the cook will fry up some mint leaves, onions, sugar, Thai chili peppers (which provide that red-hot spice) and fish sauce. The cook also adds a small amount of roasted rice to the mixture to provide more flavor. After combining the meat with the other ingredients, the larb just needs a few of those heat-reducing cucumbers on the plate and it’s ready to eat! The process is pretty simple for such a delicious meal.
One common Thai staple, or regularly eaten food, is white rice. Rice grows extremely well in the tropical, wet climate of Thailand. Joong, who grew up in Khon Kaen, even has a small rice paddy at her home, where she and her parents grow the rice that they eat. A paddy is a water-covered field where rice is grown. Since rice grows so well here, it is no surprise that larb is not only eaten atop a plate of rice, but also has roasted rice in the recipe!
The Isaan region is also home to many rice paddies, which is exciting.
