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Claire

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Claire K lack of creations! Yes that’s how creative I am today I can’t even think of an exciting way to open my post! What I can tell you is that today’s recipe is delicious. It’s what I would call a Thai take on the Chinese sang choi bao. It’s so easy and so quick to put together and if you’re lazy like me and use a few of the ingredients from the jar, you’ll probably have most of them at home already.

You can serve this dish as an entree with just one leaf per person or as a main meal for three. The recipe says for two but we were both quite full after 2 lettuce leaves each and there was plenty left over for my lunch the next day. If you’re not a fan of pork you could very easily substitute it with chicken or turkey and still have the same delicious dinner.

It’s almost a rainbow of ingredients in this recipe. Please not the fresh mint from my garden. Yes I have finally managed to keep some alive for more than a couple of weeks. The chili is also from the garden .

Start the larb by browning the mince in a large frying pan or wok.

Once the mince has browned, add the lemongrass, chili, garlic and ginger. If you’re working with fresh garlic, ginger and lemongrass, you can blend them all together with the chili into a paste using a food processor. I used garlic and ginger from a jar and lemongrass from a tube (the easy way) and just very finely chopped the chili.

Add the red onion to the pan and cook it for about two minutes then add the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and vinegar. Keep cooking for another 4 minutes or until the pork is cooked. Take the pan off the heat and leave it to rest for 5 minutes.

Add the finishing touch by stirring through the fresh herbs. I left out the coriander because it’s not well-liked in our house and because I didn’t have any in the garden.

Serve the mince in lettuce leaves sprinkled with crushed peanuts with some lime slices on the side. I’d also recommend some large napkins. It might just be my lack of technique but I usually end up with sauce dripping down to my elbows when I eat this sort of thing. It’s worth the mess though. Enjoy!

What about you? Are you having a creative week or has inspiration escaped you?

Thai larb moo (minced pork salad)

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Ingredients

• 500g (1.1 lb) pork mince
• 2 tbsp peanut oil (I just used olive oil)
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 2 cloves or garlic, minced
• 1 lemongrass stalk, ends and outer layers removed and very very finely chopped (I used minced lemongrass in a tube)
• 1 chili very finely chopped
• 1 red onion, diced
• 5 tsp fish sauce
• juice of one lime
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup coriander, chopped (I left this out)
• 1 cos lettuce, leaves separated
• crushed peanuts to serve

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and then cook the mince until it browns.
2. Add the garlic, ginger, chili and lemongrass to the pork, stir them through and then cook for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the red onion and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Pour in the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and vinegar, stir them in and then cook for an additional 4 minutes or until the pork is cooked.
5. Take the pan off the heat and leave it to rest for 5 minutes.
6. Stir through the fresh herbs and then serve the mince in lettuce leaves sprinkled with crushed peanuts.