Larb gai

Photographer: Emma
Serves 4

In the spirit of this brand New Year, I would like to propose a toast to new beginnings and to being inspired anew.  There is nothing like seeing out one year and ushering in the next, full of hope and promise, of goals and visions and also of things unknown.  2011 was a great year and a feeling in my bones tells me that 2012 is going to be an even better one.

Happy New Year!!!!!

INGREDIENTS


500g chicken mince
1 small red onion, sliced into thin wedges
1 tbsp ground rice*
3 limes, juiced
2 tbsp fish sauce
¼ cup coriander leaves
4 tbsp mint leaves, shredded
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
Iceberg lettuce leaves


*To make the ground rice, place several tablespoons full of rice into a frying pan and cook dry over a medium heat until the grains turn brown. Cool then grind finely in a coffee grinder.

METHOD


1. Fry the chicken over a medium heat until cooked through but not brown. Add the red onion and continue to cook until it starts to soften.
2. Add the ground rice, chilli, fish sauce and lime juice. At this point check the taste and add more fish sauce or lime juice if necessary.
3. Lastly add the coriander and mint and serve on a bed of lettuce. Alternatively you can tear bits of the lettuce and use these like you would soft-shell tacos wrappers, filling with the chicken mince.