My prawn larb salad with toasted rice

Sandra Slawinski 15th January 2020 0 comments

Gorgeous seafood is in season now: scallops, prawns, oysters etc all lovely yummy crustaceans I can’t get enough off. I got inspired at the fishmonger when I saw theses prawns ( langoustines) , I wanted something fresh after all the winter festive food.

I am a HUGE fan of Masterchef Australia as I learn new dishes and techniques every season. I take notes during the competition of dishes, flavour combos and ingredients and last fall I wrote down Thai larb and toasted rice.

LARB – this meat salad originates in Laos but is very popular in North East Thailand. The salad can be made with beef, chicken, duck, fish or mushrooms. In Laos they flavour with fish sauce, lime juice, chili and mint. In Thailand they add cumin, cloves, star anise and cinnamon.  Important in both is the rice, it is topped with toasted ground rice and can be served with sticky rice. I used radicchio leaves as it is in season now but lettuce or tossed fresh herbs can be used s well.

TOASTED RICE – I never made this before and after reading up about, I made my own version. After roasting the rice in ground it up in my spice grinder where I had just ground cloves. I ground it very fine to a powder. At first I dusted it over the larb but that made it grainy in my mouth, than I added it to the dressing and that gave it texture and flavour.

My prawn larb with toasted rice

Yield 1 portion

Ingredients

  • 6 radicchio leaves
  • 100 gr rice ( I used what I had jasmine rice)( you only need 2 tablespoons, store rest in a jar)
  •  4 prawns
  • 2 spring onions, chopped
  • 2 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 2 table spoon lime juice
  • bustle of mint, chopped
  • bustle of coriander, chopped
  • pinch of chili flakes
  • 5 cloves

Instructions

  1. to make the toasted rice; roast the rice in a non-stick pan for 10 minutes, keep shaking it around to avoid burning the rice. Let it cool down. In in the spice grinder, blitz the cloves and reserve. Add the cooled rice and blitz for a fine powder or you can use a pestle and mortar.
  2. Boil or steam the prawns, remove from shell ( you can use those to make stock or bisque) and lay onto the radicchio leaves. add the chopped spring onions, coriander and mint. 
  3. In a jar add the fish sauce, lime juice, chili and ground gloves and rice, close the jar and shake to combine. Drizzle over the herbs and serve. 

Notes

on www.leeksandhighheels.com by Sandra Slawinski

Written and photographed by Sandra Slawinski without commercial deals. I used my large Japanese bowl ( a gift from my friends Noel & Flavio), small bowl Serrax, napkin & cutlery ZaraHome, plate Hema