What’s cooking in Thailand?
Laarb à la Dawan
Dawan is originally from Thailand but grew up in Sweden. She is married to her Swiss husband and they have a little daughter together. Dawan loves to go hiking in Switzerland with her family. They do that almost every weekend and Dawan writes about these hikes on her blog Family Earth Trek, which is full of hiking tips and beautiful photos of Swiss mountains! Dawan loves having a picnic by a lake or on a cliff with amazing views of the surroundings. The dish they often bring on their hikes is a Thai dish, Laarb ‘Dawan style’. Thai Laarb is fresh, healthy and light, so perfect for a warm summer day on a mountain top.
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
In our case this was enough for 4 persons
Please note: you can basically add all kinds of herbs and vegetables you like, and in quantity as much as you like. Here are Dawan’s usual ingredients:
- Minced chicken (for 4 we used 500gr)
- 1 whole cucumber
- Salad for the wrapping (try the salads which are already a bit ‘bowl shaped’)
- 2 spring onions (or fresh onion)
- Fresh Thai basil (or ordinary basil in our case)
- Fresh dill
- Fresh mint
- Fresh cilantro, or coriander
- Green lemons (we took 3 green lemons with us on the hike to squeeze the juice on)
- Fish sauce
- Peppers (optional)
- If you would like more flavor and crunch you could add some peanuts and Sweet Chili sauce says Dawan
How to prepare:
- Cut the chicken in small pieces and cook it WITHOUT adding oil. It is important to stir so the meat doesn’t get lumps. Once it is cooked, put aside to cool down.
- While the meat is cooling down, chop all the herbs and vegetables.
- Mix the chicken and the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Taste, and if needed add more lemon and fish sauce to your liking. Dawan normally uses about 3-4 lemons and 4-6 table spoons of fish sauce, and a lot a lot of red chilis in her separate bowl.
- IMPORTANT! If you are taking it for a picnic or a hike, don’t mix the chicken and the herbs and the veggies now because the greens will get soggy. Mix it later when you are about to eat.
- Wash the lettuce or any kind of salad and cut it in half for wrapping Laarb. For her daughter, Dawan normally wraps it smaller, perfect for one single bite.
- PS: it can get messy! So if you bring it on a picnic, take napkins, and water to wash your hands.
We have tried Dawan’s delicious Laarb recipe and we loved it! Of course, there was no better place for us to eat it than on a mountain just like her family does! So thank you Dawan for sharing your recipe, and for inspiring us to go and explore the mountains more often 😊!
If you would like to go hiking and get some tips on where to go in Switzerland, have a look at Dawan’s blog Family Earth Trek.
