Pork larb

Serves: 4
Course: Starter
Cooking Time: 0 hr 20 mins
Ingredients
  • <ul> <li>1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil</li> <li>1 large knob ginger, grated or diced</li> <li>1 red chilli, very finely sliced</li> <li>2 sticks lemongrass, thinly sliced</li> <li>3 kaffir lime leaves, crushed</li> <li>Approx 600g minced pork</li> <li>2 tbsp fish sauce</li> <li>Juice of 2 limes</li> <li>1-2 heads baby gem or butter leaf lettuce</li> <li>Bunch of coriander</li> <li>Few pistachios</li> <li>Few mint leaves</li> </ul>

Heat up the oil in a large frying pan and sear the ginger, chilli, lemongrass and lime leaves to make a fragrant base in which to saute the pork.

After a minute or so, add the pork. Smash it up with a wooden spoon and move it around so that it breaks into smaller chunks and starts to separate rather than remain as one big mound.

The idea is to lightly brown the pork and coat it with all the lovely fragrant flavours.

After about five minutes, add the fish sauce. Keep the heat up and keep cooking until it starts to char a bit in places and is really cooked through, then remove it from the heat and allow to cool.

Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add some lime juice, which will sharpen up the flavour, then spoon the meat into the lettuce leaves, top with chopped coriander, a few crushed pistachios and even a little mint. Serve up and watch them disappear. An extra wedge of lime is also nice to serve alongside.

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a chef and food writer