LAAP MUU: LAO SHREDDED PORK SALAD

Ingredients

• 1 pound minced pork (or any other minced meat will work too)
• ¼ cup water
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon uncooked short-grain rice (alternatively, you can use store-bought toasted rice powder)
• 2 tablespoons galangal powder
• 1 3-inch stalk of lemongrass, outer peel removed and the rest washed then minced
• ½ large shallot, sliced thinly
• 1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Kheuang Laap

• 2 small Thai or Indian (bulb-sized) eggplants
• 1 full head of garlic, unpeeled but the top cut off
• 1 large shallot, with the top cut off
• 3 dried chile arbol peppers, soaked in water and reanimated

Garnishes or Final Additions (All Optional and As You Like)

• 1 handful fresh mint, chopped
• 1 red chili pepper, deseeded and sliced
• ½ shallot, sliced thinly
• Salt and pepper to taste

How to Make

Stage 1 - Prepare Kheuang Laap and Toasted Rice Powder

1. Before preparing the actual laap muu, start by roasting and charring all your ingredients for the kheuang laap. You can either do this by grilling over a medium-intensity flame, or by roasting in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for ~20 minutes
2. While these ingredients are roasting, take a small pan over medium heat and add your uncooked rice. Stir around for 5-7 minutes as the rice starts to brown and roast
3. Once the rice is well roasted, take off the heat and set aside and let it cool
4. When the rice has cooled, run it through a coffee or spice grinder until you get a powdery consistency
5. By this time, the kheuang laap ingredients are well charred and roasted. Take off the grill or out of oven, and combine all ingredients into a plastic bowl or mortar and pestle
6. Grind your kheuang laap ingredients into a paste-like consistency, then set aside

Stage 2 - Cooking and Mincing Pork

1. Take a wok or a large saucepan over medium-high heat
2. Add your minced pork directly into the heated wok without any oil or other cooking fat. Use a ladle to begin breaking the minced meat up into smaller pieces. You want to keep doing this until everything is well minced
3. About a minute into cooking your minced pork, add your water and continue to mince and cook your pork until there is no pink visible in the meat (roughly 3-5 more minutes)
4. Once your pork is cooked and minced, take the wok off heat and let cool for 1 minute

Stage 3 - Compiling Ingredients into Laap Muu

1. With your wok having cooled slightly, begin by adding your lime juice, fish sauce and kheuang laap paste, then stir well into the minced pork
2. Next, add your toasted rice powder, minced lemongrass, and galangal powder into the wok and mix very well into the laap muu
3. Finally, add pieces of fresh chopped cilantro and, again, mix very thoroughly
4. Serve your laap muu one a bed of lettuce with any and all garnishes you'd like. Enjoy!