Thai Chicken Larb Lettuce Cups: Meal-Prep Minced Chicken Salad for Weekday Lunches

Toast the raw rice in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking often, for 6 to 8 minutes until deep golden and fragrant. Cool, then grind to a coarse sand in a spice grinder or mortar. This khao khua is the soul of larb; make a double batch and keep it in a jar.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons uncooked jasmine rice
• 1 pound ground chicken (thigh preferred)
• 3 tablespoons chicken stock or water
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 to 2 teaspoons Thai chili flakes, to taste
• 3 shallots or 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
• 2 heads butter or little gem lettuce, leaves separated
• 1 cucumber, sliced, and lime wedges to serve

Instructions

1. Toast the raw rice in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking often, for 6 to 8 minutes until deep golden and fragrant. Cool, then grind to a coarse sand in a spice grinder or mortar. This khao khua is the soul of larb; make a double batch and keep it in a jar.
2. In the same skillet, cook the ground chicken with the stock over medium-high heat, breaking it into fine crumbles, for 5 to 6 minutes until just cooked through and no longer pink. Do not brown it; larb should stay pale and juicy.
3. Tip the chicken and its juices into a bowl and let it cool for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chili flakes. Taste and adjust until it is sharp, salty and a little hot.
5. Fold in the shallots, scallions and about a tablespoon of the toasted rice powder. Add the mint and coriander only if serving now.
6. For lunchboxes, pack the dressed chicken (without herbs) in one container, the lettuce, cucumber, herbs and extra rice powder in another, and a lime wedge on top. It keeps 3 days chilled and is best eaten at room temperature.
7. To serve, spoon the larb into lettuce cups, scatter with herbs and a last pinch of rice powder, and squeeze over lime.
8. Larb (also spelled laab) is the national dish of Laos and the pride of Isan, Thailand's northeastern region, where it is eaten with sticky rice and raw vegetables rather than lettuce. The toasted rice powder is not decoration; it thickens the dressing, adds a smoky crunch and is what separates real larb from a plain minced-chicken salad. Traditionally it is made with whatever the family has, from duck to mushrooms to catfish, always seasoned with the same trio of lime, fish sauce and chili. Served in lettuce cups it travels beautifully, which is why it has quietly become one of the best meal-prep lunches in the Thai repertoire.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 260 kcal
• Protein: 24g
• Fat: 12g
• Carbohydrates: 14g
• Fiber: 3g
• Sugar: 5g
• Sodium: 780mg