Larb

Larb (Lao: ລາບ; Thai: ลาบ, RTGS: lap, pronounced [lâːp]), also spelled laab, laap, larp, or lahb, is a traditional Lao minced meat salad and a national dish of Laos. Known for its bold and harmonious flavors, it is a cornerstone of Lao cuisine, often accompanied by sticky rice and green papaya salad.
Larb features minced meat, often pork, chicken, beef, duck, or fish, seasoned with lime juice, fish sauce, roasted ground rice, and fresh herbs like mint, with chili commonly added for heat. Larb is typically served with sticky rice and is integral to Lao cultural and celebratory meals.
Originating in Laos, larb has influenced the cuisines of neighboring regions, particularly northeastern and northern Thailand (Isan and Lanna), which share historical ties with the former Lan Xang Kingdom. Variants of larb also appear in the cuisines of other Tai-speaking peoples, such as those in Shan State, Myanmar, and Yunnan Province, China. Despite regional adaptations, larb's roots remain distinctly Lao.
Commissioned by the Chinese Qianlong emperor in 1751, the Qing Imperial Illustrations of Tributary Peoples describes the Lao people as the following: "The Laowo (Lao) are customarily called Wojia [...] They like to eat raw meat."
Étienne François Aymonier, who visited Laos in 1883, described laab as a favorite dish of Lao people – a mixture of chopped onions or scallions, lemongrass leaves, fermented fish and chili mixed with fresh and boiled fish. The dish was eaten with steam-cooked sticky rice. Another French visitor, Doctor Estrade, who arrived in 1893, described larb as a Lao main dish made with boiled fish, chili and ground roasted sticky rice.
Depending on the method of preparation, it may be known by different names, including nam tok, goi/saa, yum/sua, and can be made with beef, buffalo, chicken, duck, fish, pork, shrimp, game meat, mushroom or even algae. Laab can be served raw, which is known as laab diip (raw) or aharn suer (tiger food), or cooked, and usually served with a soup made with the bones of the meat being used.
Historically, laab dishes were more common amongst the aristocracy and traditional recipes for laab served to Laotian royalty are in a collection of handwritten recipes from Phia Sing (1898–1967), royal chef and master of ceremonies. Laab is considered to be an auspicious and lucky dish because traditionally meat was not readily available, and most Laotians would normally eat laab at special occasions, such as wedding, New Year celebrations and festivals. Many Laotians will bless their family and guests with a meal consisting of laab for luck and good fortune. During the New Year celebration, many Lao families believe that eating laab on day one of the three-day celebration will bring good fortune for the rest of the year.
Prior to the collapse of the monarchy, in Laotian high society, servants were never allowed to prepare the best and most delicate dishes. The women of Laotian high society considered it an honorable task and great opportunity to display their culinary talents to prepare laab for their esteemed guests. Among ordinary Laotians, when preparing laab, housewives would prepare the ingredients in separate containers as a mise en place, leaving the final honor of mixing all the ingredients in a large bowl to the head of the household. As tradition goes, the head of the family would start with malaxating the mincemeat – softening and incorporating it with a cupful of stock from the soup, then adding the toasted ground rice, pepper powder, garlic, salt, padaek sauce and finally chopped aromatics before serving.
Laab has a meaning in the Lan Na dialect (1292–1775), the neighboring kingdom of Lan Xang (1353–1707, present day Laos). The name derived from the full word of "จิ๊นลาบ", the word "จิ๊น" translates to animal meat while "ลาบ" means to chop into smaller pieces or mince in Lanna script (closely linked to Tai Tham). However, in ancient Lanna dialect, the word “ฟัก” ("fak") was always used for "mince".
In Laos, depending on how the dish is prepared, it may be known by different names, including nam tok, goi/saa, yum/sua. Modern laab is most often made with chicken, beef, duck, fish, pork or mushrooms, flavored with fish sauce, lime juice, padaek, roasted ground rice and fresh herbs. The meat can be either raw or cooked; it is minced and mixed with chili, mint, roughly ground toasted rice (khao khoua) and, optionally, assorted vegetables according to personal preference. The dish is served at room temperature and usually with a serving of sticky rice and raw or fresh vegetables. Traditionally, beef laab will only contain offal, bile, and all of the other ingredients without lime juice. Fish and shrimp laab are also traditionally absent lime juice but incorporate minced galangal. Compared to other laab, fish and shrimp laab does require an extra step. The deboned fish filet, or shrimp is minced, then pounded in a mortar and pestle until it turns to a gluey paste. Padaek juice is carefully added to the mixture, and stirred to a desired consistency, before finishing off with the finely chopped galangal and other aromatic herbs.
Laab in the old kingdom of Lanna (1292–1775), is a local delicacy popular to aristocrats in the area. The name derived from the full word of "จิ๊นลาบ", the word "จิ๊น" means animal meat while "ลาบ" means to chop into smaller pieces or mince in Lanna script (closely linked to Tai Tham).
Laab was enjoyed in both raw or cooked forms depends on the likings. The cooked laab is mostly roasted and, therefore, called "ลาบคั่ว" (roasted laab).
The raw laab are known as "ลาบเลือด" (blood laab), popularly eaten alongside alcohol. In the ancient times, it is made solely by men and women were banned from the process due to the notion that women could contaminate the dish with menstruated blood.
Lanna people often eat laab during auspicious celebrations such as the new year or Songkran, housewarming, weddings, ordination, and other Buddhist festivities. It is influenced by the Thai word "ลาภ" (derived from Pali) homophone: meaning unexpected luck or fortune.
The laab from northern Thailand where the Lao have migrated, laab Lan Na, is different from the internationally more well-known Lao style laab. The northern Thai laab of the Tai Nyuan/Khon Muang (northern Thai people) does not contain fish sauce and is not sour, as neither lime juice nor any other souring agent is used. Instead, the northern Thai version uses a mix of dried spices as flavoring and seasoning which includes ingredients such as cumin, cloves, long pepper, star anise, prickly ash seeds and cinnamon amongst others, derived from the location of northern Thailand's Lan Na Kingdom on one of the spice routes to China, in addition to ground dried chillies, and, in the case of laab made with pork or chicken, the blood of the animal. The dish can be eaten raw (laab dip), but also after it has been stir-fried for a short time (laab suk). If blood is omitted from the preparation of the stir-fried version, the dish is called laab khua (Thai: ลาบคั่ว). There is also a kind of laab called laab luat (Lao: ລາບເລືອດ) or lu (Thai: หลู้). This dish is made with minced raw pork or beef, raw blood, kidney, fat and bile, and mixed with spices, crispy fried onions, fresh herbs and other ingredients. Laab and its other variations are served with an assortment of fresh vegetables and herbs, and eaten with glutinous rice. This version of laab is thought to have originated in the town of Phrae, in northern Thailand. This style of laab can also be found in parts of northern Laos.
The risks from eating raw meat include contracting trichinosis, caused by an infectious worm, along with fatal bacterial or potentially rabies infection. The consumption of raw laab and lu made with raw pork has led to several cases of human Streptococcus suis infections in Thailand, some of them with a deadly result.
The consumption of raw freshwater fish can lead to an infection by Opisthorchis viverrini (Southeast Asian liver fluke), a parasitic flatworm that can live for many years inside the human liver. Northern Thailand, where certain fishes are consumed fermented, has the highest recorded rate of medically untreatable cholangiocarcinoma.