The history + pronunciation of larb (2024)

FAQs

The history + pronunciation of larb? ›

🔊 Here's how to pronounce the dish as Thai + Lao people do: Larb, pronounced lab with a short A sound, as in l-a-a-p, with the tone falling during the vowel sound. The “b” in Larb actually sounds more like a “p,” with the final consonant unvoiced. And don't pronounce the R; it is NOT laRRRb!

While most people, and many Thai restaurants, call this dish larb, the correct pronunciation and the way it should be written is laab. The R is not pronounced.

It is influenced by the Thai word "ลาภ" (derived from Pali) hom*ophone: meaning unexpected luck or fortune. The laab from northern Thailand where the Lao have migrated, laab Lan Na, is different from the internationally more well-known Lao style laab.

Thai Larb, also known as Laab or Larp, is a popular dish in Thailand and is a versatile and flavorful dish made with ground meat, herbs, and spices. It can be served as a salad or in bite-sized lettuce cups, known as larb bites, for a delicious appetizer.

Laap is the way you handle the produce. Larb means that the dish is chopped. Chopped to the max. And how you add flavor to these chopped creations varies vastly from region to region.

Break 'thailand' down into sounds: [TY] + [LAND] - say it out loud and exaggerate the sounds until you can consistently produce them.

Why? Authentic larb gai is made with padaek which is a fermented fish made into a thick fish sauce. Fermented fish is what makes larb smell. If you can't get over the smell, this is one of the ingredients that can be omitted from the recipe without any substitutions.

Larb is typically served warm with lettuce, an assortment of crisp veggies, and/or steamed rice, though it's also wonderful at room temperature or even cold. Here, we forgo the rice and enjoy the pork larb wrapped in Boston lettuce leaves along with a dipping sauce made from lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and chiles.

Unlike larb, raw meat is not used to cook nam tok. Nam tok is prepared by adding shallots, lime juice, onion, mint leaves, cilantro and fragrant roasted ground rice (khao khua) to grilled meat sliced to bite-size pieces. The result is a juicy salad with a tangy, spicy sauce that is quite a hit!

Raw larb, also known as laab diip or koy nua, is a spicy raw beef salad from Thailand's Isan region. It combines minced beef, often with blood and beef bile, with toasted rice powder and spices, creating bold flavors unique to Lao and Isan cuisine.

What is lao larb? ›

Laotian Larb is technically a salad (a meal with small pieces), but made mostly with meat! It gets its wonderful flavor from fresh herbs, shallots, fish sauce, lime juice, a few spices and most importantly, the unique ingredient of toasted rice.

Often said to be the national dish of Laos, laab (frequently seen on Thai-restaurant menus as “larb”) is essentially a salad made from ground meat and herbs, laced with fish sauce and lime juice and topped with a powder made from dry ground rice.

larb Isan is known for its robust spiciness. Minced meat is usually seasoned with lime juice, fish sauce, chilli powder, grounded roasted rice, shallots, and spring onions. Some recipes also include coriander and mint leaves.

Larb is said to have originated in Laos but today, the dish is regional to Laos and Isaan (or Isan), the northeastern region of Thailand bordering Laos and Cambodia. The largest region of Thailand is where most of the nation's rice is grown and has a rich Khmer era history going back at least 5,000 years.

Meaning of larb in English

a meat salad often made with ground pork (= the meat from a pig) and common in southeast Asian cooking: I was served larb, a spicy minced pork salad, with mint and cilantro on radicchio lettuce leaves. In certain parts of Thailand the leaf is eaten with raw beef larb.

After that you can give further personal requests like no fish sauce (“mai ow nam bplaa” ไม่เอานำ้ปลา) or no oyster sauce (“mai ow nam man hoy” ไม่เอาน้ำมันหอย). To get you started, here are five popular Thai dishes and tips on how to order completely vegetarian versions of them.

Summary. The Thai translation for “I do not eat pork. (female speaker)” is ฉันไม่กินหมู. The Thai, ฉันไม่กินหมู, can be broken down into 4 parts:"I (female speaker)" (ฉัน), "no; not" (ไม่), "to eat" (กิน) and "pig; pork" (หมู).

Khao phat khai (ข้าวผัดไข่) – egg fried rice.