Larb with Lettuce Cups & Nuoc Cham

Larb with Lettuce Cups & Nuoc Cham

For the Larb:

1 tablespoon neutral oil, like grapeseed or peanut

1 pound ground pork

2 small or 1 large shallot, peeled julienned (cut in thin strips)

½ cup prepared nuoc cham (recipe below)

½ bunch scallions, whites and light green, sliced thin

1-inch pieces of ginger, peeled and grated on a microplane

kosher salt, to taste

For serving:

prepared nuoc cham (recipe below)

2 tablespoons white glutinous rice or jasmine rice

assorted fresh lettuce leaves, we used bibb and leaf lettuce

English cucumber, sliced in ¼-inch thick rounds on a bias

spicy chiles like Thai or Serrano chilies, cut into thin rounds

cilantro leaves and tender stems

mint leaves

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan. Add the pork and cook until just cooked through, breaking the meat up in small pieces as you cook. Add the shallots and cook until soft. Quickly add the ginger and scallions, season with salt and about ½ a cup of nuoc cham.

Prepare the rice by toasting in a dry sauté pan over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until a deep brown color develops. Grind with a coffee grinder or in a mortar and pestle into a sand-like texture.

Serve with lettuce leaves, cucumbers, spicy chilies and herbs on the sides to build lettuce cups. Place the toasted rice in a small bowl to top the lettuce cups as you build them. Serve with nuoc cham on the side for dipping.

For the Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce:

¼ cup fish sauce

½ cup lime juice, freshly squeezed

¼ cup water

¼ cup sugar or palm sugar

1 serrano or habanero chili, sliced thin

Optional: 1 garlic clove smashed

Whisk together the fish sauce, lime juice, water and palm sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add the habanero chili. Set aside until ready to use. Store any remaining nuoc cham in the refrigerator.