Chicken Larb (Laab Gai) — Authentic Thai Isaan Recipe

Larb (spelled laab, lahb, or larp — all the same word) is the national dish of Laos and the beating heart of Isaan, the northeastern region of Thailand. It’s a warm chicken salad. That description undersells it. Done right, it’s the punchiest, most alive thing you’ll cook this week — sour, salty, fiery, herbal, nutty from toasted rice powder, all built on the meat you minced by hand thirty seconds ago.

What is chicken larb, exactly?

The word laab means “chop finely” in Lao, which tells you the technique matters as much as the ingredients. Pailin Chongchitnant, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu and runs the authoritative Hot Thai Kitchen, calls larb “probably the healthiest chicken salad in the world” — no oil, no cream, no sugar (well, a pinch), just protein, herbs, and citrus.

Real Isaan larb also skips vegetable oil entirely: the chicken is poached in a splash of water in a hot pan, which keeps every calorie from the meat and lets the herbs and lime sit unmasked.

Do I have to hand-mince the chicken?

1. Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs — never breast. Thigh meat stays juicy at the fast cook temperatures larb demands. 1 lb (450 g) feeds 3 as a main.
2. Slice into ¼-inch strips, then across into small dice, then run a sharp knife through the pile 20 or 30 times until it looks like coarse ground meat. Rocking motion, both hands.
3. Store-bought ground chicken works if you’re short on time — buy thigh, never breast. Pulse it briefly in a bowl with a fork to loosen the strands before cooking.

What is khao khua and why does it matter so much?

Method: heat a dry skillet over medium. Add ¼ cup raw uncooked sticky rice (Thai glutinous rice, sold in every Asian grocery). Stir constantly for 8–10 minutes. It’ll go from white to pale gold to deep golden-brown, and your kitchen will smell like popcorn — that’s the marker. Cool for two minutes, then grind in a mortar or spice grinder to a coarse texture, roughly the size of couscous.

Store the extra in a jar for two months. I make a full cup at once because I use it on grilled meats, over rice, and stirred into Southeast Asian dressings all the time.

The full recipe (25 minutes, serves 3)

1. Make the khao khua. Dry-toast the sticky rice in a skillet 8–10 minutes until deep golden and popcorn-scented. Cool, then coarsely grind. Set aside 2 tbsp for this batch; jar the rest.
2. Prep the aromatics. Juice the limes. Slice shallots, green onions, and lime leaves. Tear the mint at the last minute so it doesn’t blacken.
3. Cook the chicken. Heat a wide skillet over medium-high. Add 2 tbsp water and the minced chicken. Stir constantly, breaking up any lumps, for 2–3 minutes until the meat has just turned opaque. Do not brown it — larb chicken should stay pale and moist.
4. Off the heat, dress it. Transfer chicken and its small amount of juice into a mixing bowl (removing it from the hot pan stops carry-over cooking). Add fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chili flakes, shallots. Toss.
5. Fold in the herbs and rice powder. Add green onion, mint, cilantro, lime leaves, and 2 tbsp of the toasted rice powder. Fold gently — you want the herbs distributed, not pulverized.
6. Taste. It should be sour first, salty second, spicy third. Adjust with more lime, fish sauce, or chili in ½-tsp bumps.
7. Plate warm. Pile onto a shallow platter. Surround with cabbage, cucumber, and long beans. Serve sticky rice in a small basket alongside.

Watch the technique from Pailin’s kitchen

Pailin Chongchitnant is the closest thing English-speaking cooks have to a Thai grandmother on YouTube. Her larb walkthrough shows the water-poach method, the correct level of doneness, and the taste-and-adjust dance at the end:

How is it served and eaten?

The raw vegetables aren’t garnish. They’re utensils and palate cleansers. A wedge of green cabbage scoops larb like a shovel; a segment of cucumber cools your mouth between fiery bites. Hungry In Thailand photographs their larb plate this way for a reason — it’s how it’s actually eaten in Khon Kaen and Udon Thani.

Common questions

Can I use ground turkey or pork?

Yes — larb exists in every meat form in Isaan. Larb moo (pork) is arguably more common than the chicken version. Larb ped (duck) is the fanciest. Ground turkey works but skew to thigh-based grind, not breast. Beef larb (larb neua) is fantastic and takes exactly the same method.

Is larb spicy?

Yes, but adjustably. Isaan larb runs 4/5 heat with Thai bird’s-eye chili flakes; the export version restaurants serve is closer to 2/5. Start with ½ tsp prik bon, taste, and go up. Cool with sticky rice and cucumber — not water, which spreads the capsaicin.

Can I make it ahead?

Sort of. The chicken can be cooked and refrigerated 2 days. The herbs, rice powder, and dressing should go in within an hour of serving — the mint blackens overnight and the rice powder loses its crunch by hour six. Larb is a warm-and-alive dish, not a meal-prep one.

What if I can’t find sticky rice for the khao khua?

Regular jasmine rice works in a pinch but the flavor is 30 % less nutty and it grinds into a finer powder. Sticky rice (labeled “glutinous rice” or “sweet rice”) is at every Asian grocery for under $4 a bag. Worth the trip.

Is fish sauce essential?

Yes. No swap tastes the same. If you’re vegetarian, coconut aminos + a pinch of salt + a splash of miso gets you 60 % of the way. But at that point you’re making a different dish — call it “Isaan-style” and let it be its own thing.

How long does it keep?

Refrigerated in a sealed container, 3 days. The herbs will darken and the texture will soften. Refresh the leftovers by tossing with an extra squeeze of lime, a fresh handful of mint, and a sprinkle of new rice powder before serving.

My one-line summary

Toast the rice, mince the thigh, poach in water, dress off-heat, eat warm with sticky rice. Nothing else matters.

Related on Meat Recipes Box: all chicken recipes · Thai and Southeast Asian mains · how to steam sticky rice without a bamboo basket