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.

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!

Generally, people in the Northeast prefer beef larb, but the meat choices are endless. Chicken, duck, buffalo, fish, pork, or other fowl are options, as are various types of venison like antelope or barking deer.

Talking about how to say "Thailand" correctly is nothing new.

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 should be served warm or at room temperature with a mixture of crunchy fresh vegetables (lettuce leaves, cucumber sticks, raw beans or cabbage) and steamed sticky rice.

Is larb raw meat? ›

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.

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.

Larb is typically intensely seasoned -spicy, tangy, salty, all the flavors, so to help “mellow” this out, I like to serve it with rice and cool crunchy veggies – cucumber, radish, jicama, lettuce, etc. Serve larb over sticky rice or jasmine rice, with cucumber and radishes for a heartier meal.

The minced pork is wonderfully seasoned with fish sauce, chili flakes, lime juice, toasted sticky rice to give it some crunchy texture, and a wonderful assortment of fresh herbs to bring it all together. If you've eaten larb (ลาบ), I'm sure you love it, but if you've never tried it, you're in for a real treat!

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.

Northern Thai Style

Proteins are similar to the Lao version although a common addition is blood from the animal. This style is also eaten with a side of sticky rice. Larb with raw protein. Larb with cooked protein that is cooked with the blood of the animal.

In the Lao and Thai language, the phrase means waterfall.

Nam tok (pronounced 'nam tòh') literally means 'waterfall', which is why it's often referred to as Thai waterfall salad. It's a salad dish consisting of strips of grilled pork or steak, shallots, spices and aromatic, ground, roasted rice powder.

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.

What is a larb starter? ›

Originally born in Laos, larb is a minced meat "salad," traditionally made with softly-poached ground chicken or pork. The dish is a perfect balance of sweet, tart, salty, and a punch of spice. Fulfilled by our friends at Omsom.

Larb is what some call a “meat salad”, which sounds weird, but is really the best way to describe it since it's cooked ground meat of choice mixed up with fresh herbs like cilantro, green onion, and mint. It's served with sticky rice, and loaded with your favorite Thai flavors: umamai, spicy, and sour!

Meaning of larb in English

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

You may have seen it spelled laap, lahb, laap, and larb. Many people mispronounce it when they see larb because they think there is a hard “r” sound in the word. Laab is pronounced with no “r” but with a long “a” vowel and soft “b” sound.

How to serve Larb? Larb is typically intensely seasoned -spicy, tangy, salty, all the flavors, so to help “mellow” this out, I like to serve it with rice and cool crunchy veggies – cucumber, radish, jicama, lettuce, etc. Serve larb over sticky rice or jasmine rice, with cucumber and radishes for a heartier meal.