How to cook Laab Gai - traditional Lao cuisine

There is a distinct pleasure that comes with cooking and eating traditional Lao food. Fresh herbs, shockingly vibrant flavours, and the color of the various dishes all atest to the fact that cooking Lao food is indeed a work of art.

Part of the beauty of Lao food is that it is simple to prepare, but that its flavor is full of complexity and brightness. Despite the robust flavors, Lao food is actually quite easy to assemble. Most time involved in cooking traditional dishes lies in the actual preparation - chopping up the meat, vegetables and herbs. Once these are completed, the dish can invariably be assembled in a very short amount of time.The mainstay of Lao food, and the national dish of Laos, is laab gai - a spicy minced chicken salad, that is flavoured with roasted rice powder, red chilles and assortment of very finely chopped vegetables. The toasted rice adds a slightly smoky dimension of flavour to the dish - it's somewhat undecribable, but amazingly delicious. In contrast to most Wester main courses,this dish is served at room temperature and traditionally eaten with load of plain, fresh veggies and, best of all, khao niaow (sticky rice).

Laab can be, and is regularly throughout Laos, made with any kind of minced meat - from fish or beef to pork or even wild forest animals. There are countless variations on this dish, as each province (probably every village and family) have their own unique preparations. In the North of Laos, it is typical to eat a laab made with raw meat that's been 'cooked' in nam maknao - lime juice. Either style is remarkably delicious and a dish that ought to be tried and savored.

To make laab for 3-4 people, I usually use one package of ground turkey.

Brown the turkey, and then set it aside and let it cool to room temperature.

Toast a handful of sticky rice (or jasmine rice if you can find it) in a pan with NO OIL. Move it around so it doesn't burn, but toast it until it is nice a brown everywhere.

Grind the rice in a mortar and pestle (or in a coffee grinder, sans coffee).

Next, get your herbs and veggies ready by slicing up a red shallot, a couple Thai eggplants, some scallions (about three), two kaffir lime leaves, an inch of galangal and some lemongrass. Slice these all very thinly.

Carfeully slice a couple Thai chiles - cut them big so you can easily avoid them, if you want!

Get a bunch of mint and merely tear of the leaves.

Squeeze the juice of two limes into the now cool turkey. Add a couple tablespoons of nam pha - fish sauce - and stir.

Sprinkle the toasted rice powder over the turkey, and toss.

Add all of the vegetables, except for the mint, and toss again.

Finally, add the mint and toss gently so as not to bruise the leaves.

Serve with a plate of fresh vegetable - lettuce leaves, green beans, etc - and sticky rice or jasmine rice.