CHICKEN LARB BOWL WITH PICKLED ONION

On the night I made this my husband wanted takeaway because we’d had a big and exhausting day but I just knew I had too much good produce in the fridge not to cook something. I said how about a chicken larb, and he had no idea what that is so wasn’t all that approving but I made it anyway and he said ‘that was way better than any takeaway we could have had’. It’s a beautiful and light Summer meal that is easy to make but packed with so much flavour and you can easily sub in any seasonal veggies you have on hand.

You can also sub chicken for a lamb or a beef mince or use lentils, grated tempeh or quinoa for a vegetarian option. I think the key here is to go hard on the Asian herbs - I absolutely adore Thai basil and Vietnamese mint but of course your more standard ones like coriander and mint are not to be missed either. Perfect as leftovers the next day too or you can even use the leftovers to go in rice paper rolls!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vinegar (white/ACV/rice wine)
½ cup hot water
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1x thumb size knob ginger
2 x garlic cloves, crushed
1 x shallot or ½ red onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon lemongrass, finely chopped
1 long chilli, finely chopped
400g chicken mince
1/3 cup crushed peanuts/cashews
250g cooked brown rice
2 x limes (juice)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 x Bok choy, finely sliced
2 x handfuls lettuce/spinach, finely sliced
1 x capsicum, finely diced
1 x cucumber, finely diced
1 large handful Asian herbs (coriander, mint, Thai basil, Vietnamese mint)
Extra chilli to serve (optional)

Directions

Combine the vinegar and hot water in a bowl and submerge the red onion to pickle while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Heat wok to medium to high heat, add some oil (extra virgin olive or coconut) and fry off the ginger, garlic, shallot, lemongrass and chilli for 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken mince and cook, breaking up until any residue liquid has evaporated. Add in the peanuts and brown rice and stir through. Lastly add the lime juice, fish sauce and sesame oil and mix through.

Divide the salad ingredients between four bowl, add the chicken mixture then top with fresh herbs, chilli, and the pickled onion to serve.