Larb Moo (ลาบหมู) — Isaan Hand-Chopped Pork Larb

// SUPPLY LIST

// OPERATIONS

1. 1 Start the sticky rice first: rinse the 300 g of glutinous rice in several changes of cold water until it runs almost clear, then leave it to soak in plenty of cold water for at least 4 hours and up to overnight — this is the one part of the meal that cannot be rushed, because unsoaked grains steam to a chalky opaque core no matter how long you give them.
2. 2 While the rice soaks, make the khao khua: put the 40 g of raw glutinous rice into a dry 20 cm / 8 in steel or cast-iron frying pan with the galangal coin and the torn makrut leaves, set it over medium-low heat so the pan settles at around 150-160°C / 300-320°F, and toast, stirring and shaking almost without pause, for 10-15 minutes, until the grains have gone from chalky white through pale straw to a deep, even tea-brown and the kitchen smells of popcorn; high heat is the failure here, because it blackens the outsides while the centres stay raw and leaves the powder acrid.
3. 3 Tip the toasted rice onto a cold plate and let it cool completely, about 10 minutes, then pound it — galangal and lime leaf included — in a granite mortar, or pulse it in a spice grinder in short bursts, to a coarse sandy powder the texture of semolina rather than flour, giving you about 5 tbsp: warm rice smears instead of shattering, and rice taken all the way to flour dissolves into paste in the dressing instead of giving you that faint, deliberate grit.
4. 4 In the same dry pan over medium-low heat, toast the 15 dried chillies for 2-3 minutes, turning them, until they darken by a shade and smell nutty rather than sharp — open a window first, the fumes catch in the throat — then cool them and pound to coarse flakes, seeds and all, for about 1 tbsp of phrik phon khua; ready-toasted Thai roasted chilli powder is what most Isaan home cooks actually buy and it is a fair swap, but untoasted supermarket chilli flakes are not, as they bring heat with none of the smoke.
5. 5 Firm the 500 g of pork shoulder in the freezer for 20 minutes, slice it 5 mm thick, then chop it on a wide board with a heavy cleaver — two, worked alternately, if you can — for 5-6 minutes, gathering and turning the pile as you go, until it is a coarse mince still showing distinct 2-3 mm flecks of fat; a food processor is the shortcut that genuinely ruins larb, because the emulsified paste it makes goes rubbery in the pan and will not absorb the dressing, though coarsely minced pork from a butcher (one pass through an 8 mm plate) is what a cook in Khon Kaen buys at the market and is perfectly good.
6. 6 Steam the rice now so it lands hot on the table with the pork: drain the soaked grains and steam them in a bamboo basket (huat) or a muslin-lined steamer set over vigorously boiling water, covered, for 20-25 minutes, flipping the whole mass over in one piece at the 12 minute mark so the top layer meets the steam; it is ready when the grains are translucent, glossy and chewy with no white centre, and it must go straight into a lidded pot or cloth-lined covered basket, because sticky rice left open to the air dries into pebbles within ten minutes.
7. 7 Bring the 80 ml of water or stock to a boil in a 28 cm wok or wide sauté pan over medium-high heat, add all the pork at once and break it apart continuously with the edge of a spatula for 4-5 minutes, until it has turned from pink to pale grey-white with no translucent patches left and the juices run clear; use no oil and do not let it brown or sizzle dry — larb meat is poached in its own juices, and browned pork tastes like a stir-fry and goes dry and squeaky against the dressing.
8. 8 Judge the liquid: you want roughly 3 tbsp of cloudy juices left in the pan, so splash in a little more water if it has gone dry or boil it down for 30 seconds if the pork is swimming, then tip the pork and all its juices into a wide mixing bowl and let it stand 1-2 minutes until it stops steaming hard and drops to around 70°C / 158°F, because lime juice hitting screaming-hot metal loses its perfume within seconds and cooked fish sauce turns flat and harsh.
9. 9 Pour the fish sauce and the lime juice over the warm pork, add 1 1/2 tsp of the toasted chilli flakes (2 tsp for proper Isaan heat) and toss thoroughly, then taste: it should read sour first, salty second and hot third, and it should take no sugar at all — sugar is a Bangkok habit that rounds larb off into something soft when the whole character of the dish is its sharp edge.
10. 10 Fold in the shallots, spring onion and culantro, then scatter over 3 tbsp of the toasted rice powder and toss only enough to coat every strand of meat; the rice powder goes in off the heat and late, because stirred into a hot wet pan it hydrates into paste within a minute and you lose the texture that defines the dish.
11. 11 Add the mint and coriander and turn the salad over three or four times, no more — mint bruised against hot metal blackens and turns medicinal, and the leaves should stay whole and visibly green in the finished plate.
12. 12 Taste once more and correct with lime a teaspoon at a time (fish sauce brands differ enough in salt that any fixed measure is only a starting point), let the larb rest 2-3 minutes off the heat so the seasoning settles into the meat, then pile it onto a plate at just-warm room temperature and serve with the hot sticky rice, raw white cabbage wedges, yard-long beans, cucumber and Thai basil, eating it within about 20 minutes while the rice powder is still gritty and the herbs are still alive.

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