Larb gai is the salad that doesn't feel like a salad. Minced chicken gets tossed warm with lime juice, fish sauce, chilli and a shower of fresh herbs, then finished with toasted rice powder for a nutty crunch. It's the pride of north-eastern Thailand and Laos, and it's seriously addictive.
Every mouthful hits all the notes at once — hot, sour, salty and fresh. Scooped up with lettuce cups or piled next to sticky rice, it's light but properly satisfying.
Best of all, it's a genuine 20-minute dinner. One pan, no fancy technique, and the toasted rice powder — the one step that sounds cheffy — is just dry rice toasted in a pan and bashed up.
