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This Thai chicken salad combines juicy, tender meat with a bold fish sauce, tart lime juice, and a subtle chili spice. Fresh herbs—mint and cilantro—add an intense aroma, while shallots pleasantly enhance the overall flavor. The salad is finished with crisp romaine lettuce leaves, on which it's served. It's a simple way to make a light lunch, dinner, or a spectacular snack to share.
1 spoon House of Asia fish sauce
60 ml House of Asia lime juice
½ teaspoon chili flakes
1 head of romaine lettuce, divided into leaves
400 g minced chicken meat
4-5 shallots, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons of finely chopped mint
25 g green part of spring onion, cut into smaller pieces, 3 cm long
30 g of thick chives, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
In a bowl, combine the fish sauce, lime juice, and chili flakes. Add the cilantro, mint, and scallions and mix thoroughly.
In a wok or wide pot, bring water and salt to a boil. Add the ground chicken and cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, breaking it up with a spatula, until fully cooked.
Drain the meat thoroughly in a sieve, then transfer it to a large bowl with the sauce and herbs. Add thin strips of shallot and gently mix everything together.
Arrange the romaine lettuce leaves on a platter and top with the chicken salad. Sprinkle with finely chopped chives and serve immediately.
Place the salad leaves on the salad just before serving to keep them fresh and crisp.
Larb gai is one of those dishes where a few simple ingredients can create an exceptionally distinctive whole. This dish is deeply rooted in the culinary traditions of Laos and northeastern Thailand, where larb is known in many regional varieties. In the gai version, chicken plays the starring role – in this recipe, it's tender, ground meat that perfectly captures the flavor of the aromatic sauce.
This Thai salad, however, has much more to offer than just the meat. Shallots bring a slightly spicy, fresh note, mint and cilantro provide an intensely herbal aroma, and spring onions complete the whole. This makes every bite juicy, fresh, and full of contrast. Finally, the crunch of romaine lettuce adds a touch of crunch, acting as a natural "bowl" for the meat and making the larb gai look stunning on the table.
Traditional larb variants also include toasted, ground rice, which adds a distinctive texture. This version, however, remains simpler and focuses on its essentials: tender chicken, fresh herbs, shallots, and a rich, sour-salty sauce.
Thai cuisine is based on the harmonious blend of five flavors. If you enjoy such combinations, be sure to check out our other recipes. Thai cuisine recipesAmong them you will find, among others: Thai salad with turkey and mung bean noodles – another proposition for lovers of fresh, light and aromatic dishes.
This salad doesn't need many additions to achieve a distinctive flavor. The key lies in the right proportions of the dressing ingredients – the salty, rich fish sauce meets the distinct acidity of lime, and the overall flavor is offset by the subtle spiciness of chili. Each of these ingredients brings something different, but together they create a distinctive balance.
Fish sauce is primarily responsible for the saltiness and intense umami. It makes the meat's flavor fuller and more pronounced. Lime juice, on the other hand, adds a sour, citrusy note that brightens and refreshes the dish. This keeps the sauce from being heavy, despite its strong flavor.
The chili comes at the end – in this recipe, it's used sparingly, so its purpose isn't to overpower the other ingredients, but to add a light, pleasant warmth. Mint and cilantro round out the whole thing, introducing a fresh aroma and ensuring each bite remains light and crisp.
It's best to serve larb gai immediately after preparation. This allows all the flavors to be vibrant, and the romaine lettuce leaves retain their pleasant crunch. This Thai salad is perfect for lunch, a light dinner, or supper, or as a snack to share at the table.
If you like such contrasting combinations, check out ours too recipes for Thai salads. Try these, among other things Thai Tom Yum shrimp salad or Thai salad with mango and soy sauce.
"Larb" refers to a distinctive type of salad with chopped or ground meat, while "gai" means chicken in Thai. Larb gai can therefore be understood as larb with chicken. The dish is particularly associated with the cuisine of Laos and northeastern Thailand and comes in many regional varieties.
The name can be spelled in several ways, including larb gai, laab gai, and lap kai. This is primarily due to the different transliterations of the names from the languages spoken in the region. All these terms refer to the same family of dishes, although the spelling may vary depending on the source and the adopted transcription.
No, this version is only mildly spicy. The subtle spicy note comes from chili flakes, which, in small amounts, enhance the salad's flavor without overpowering the lime, fish sauce, and fresh herbs. If you prefer milder flavors, you'll probably enjoy this version.
Yes, you can prepare the meat itself ahead of time, but it's best to combine it with the sauce, herbs, and shallots as close to serving time as possible. It's especially important not to pile the salad onto the romaine lettuce leaves ahead of time. This will keep them fresh and crisp, and the entire dish will taste its best.
Fish sauce is an important element of this recipe, as it's responsible for the characteristic saltiness and deep umami. If you need a substitute, you can use a small amount of soy sauce. However, it's best to add it gradually. Also, keep in mind that the flavor won't be the same as the original version—soy sauce will give the salad a slightly different character.
In this recipe, larb gai is served on fresh, crisp romaine lettuce. It's a simple way to present it impressively and is also a convenient way to eat it—the leaves can be treated like small bowls for the aromatic salad. For a more filling dish, serve it with jasmine rice. The delicate rice pairs well with the bold sauce, and its mild flavor helps balance the chili's spiciness.
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