Hot summer days call for spicy, zesty, herby flavours, such as this easy-to-prepare chicken larb.

Recipes & Styling Natalie Homan | Photographs Brendan Homan

Larb gai
serves 4

200g glutinous rice
1 kaffir lime leaf, finely shredded
1 lemongrass stalk, white part finely chopped
600g chicken thigh fillet
1 shallot, finely sliced
1 birds eye chilli, finely sliced
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
coriander
mint
Thai basil
iceberg lettuce
blanched green beans
baby cucumber
chopped peanuts

Heat a small frypan over low-med heat. Add rice, lime leaf and lemongrass and cook until toasted, stirring regularly. Set aside to cool. Place mix in a mortar and grind with a pestle until a fine powder forms. Toasted rice will keep for 1 month in a sealed container.

Finely dice the chicken thigh. Place two tbsp of water into a frypan, bring to the boil, add chicken and simmer until just cooked through. Place chicken into a bowl, with a little of the liquid for moisture. Sprinkle over 1 tbsp of toasted rice powder and add shallots, chilli, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. Mix well, taste, adjusting the flavours to suit. Add generous amounts of chopped coriander, mint and Thai basil and gently fold through.

To assemble the larb, place a wedge of iceberg lettuce in each bowl followed by a mound of the chicken mix. Add more elements of freshness and crunch such as cucumber and blanched green beans.

Serve garnished with chopped peanuts and extra herbs and lime on the side.

This recipe first appeared in the October 2021 issue of SALIFE magazine.