Tofu Larb
Crumbled tofu browned hard, dressed with lime and toasted rice powder, and eaten cold from lettuce leaves with a lot of herbs.
- Prep
- 20m
- Cook
- 15m
- Total
- 35m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Easy
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 450 g | Fry the crumbled tofu until it is dry, brown and a bit chewy 12m Ten minutes at least. Undercooked, it stays soggy and the dressing turns it to slop. | Dress the warm tofu and let it cool to room temperature 5m Warm tofu takes the dressing in; cold tofu wears it on the outside. | Toss with the herbs at the last second and serve with lettuce leaves 3m Herbs go in off the heat and just before eating. Wilted mint is a different dish. | |
| 2 tbsp | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 tbsp | Toast the raw rice and grind it coarse 8m Dry pan, medium heat, until deep gold and nutty. This is the texture of the dish. | |||
| 4 tbsp | ||||
| 3 tbsp | ||||
| 2 tsp | ||||
| 2 tsp | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| a large handful | ||||
| a large handful | ||||
| a small handful | ||||
| 2 heads | ||||
| 8 | ||||
-
Fry the crumbled tofu until it is dry, brown and a bit chewy
12m- firm tofu 450 g
- neutral oil 2 tbsp
- shallots 2
Ten minutes at least. Undercooked, it stays soggy and the dressing turns it to slop.
-
Toast the raw rice and grind it coarse
8m- raw sticky rice 3 tbsp
Dry pan, medium heat, until deep gold and nutty. This is the texture of the dish.
-
Dress the warm tofu and let it cool to room temperature
5m- from 1 Fry the crumbled tofu until it is dry, brown and a bit chewy
- from 2 Toast the raw rice and grind it coarse
- lime juice 4 tbsp
- light soy sauce 3 tbsp
- palm sugar 2 tsp
- toasted chilli flakes 2 tsp
- spring onions 3
Warm tofu takes the dressing in; cold tofu wears it on the outside.
-
Toss with the herbs at the last second and serve with lettuce leaves
3m- from 3 Dress the warm tofu and let it cool to room temperature
- mint a large handful
- coriander a large handful
- Thai basil (optional) a small handful
- little gem lettuce 2 heads
- green beans (optional) 8
Herbs go in off the heat and just before eating. Wilted mint is a different dish.
Why the toasted rice
Khao khua is ground toasted rice, and it does two jobs at once. Toasting takes the starch past the point where it browns, generating the same nutty pyrazines you get in roasted nuts, so a spoonful adds a warm savoury layer that nothing else in a raw-tasting salad provides. It also stays slightly gritty in the dressing, absorbing the lime juice so the larb is moist rather than swimming. Grind it coarse — powder-fine turns the dressing pasty and loses the crunch entirely.
Notes
- Larb is normally made with minced pork, chicken or beef. Hand-crumbled tofu, fried until genuinely dry, holds dressing in the same way.
- Fish sauce is the traditional seasoning; soy plus an extra squeeze of lime gets the same salty-sour balance.
- Toast a large batch of rice at once. Ground, it keeps a month in a jar and makes any salad better.