Thai Spicy Chicken Salad with Roasted Spices (Larb Gai Prik Dum ลาบไก่พริกดำ)

Have you ever try Thai Larb Northern style? 🤓

There are 2 versions of Thai Larb, Isarn style and Northern Thailand style. The Isarn version is what you usually get at a Thai restaurant. The Northern version is more aromatic than the Isarn version.  And it is more complicated to make because we need to roast all the herbs and spices first, then make roasted chili paste (Prik Larb or Prik Dum) to use in the Larb. Therefore not so many restaurants want to serve it.

I prefer the Northern style Larb more because that is how my parents usually made Larb. Our local Northern Larb is not exactly the same as the Larb Kua. We use Prik Dum, not Prik Larb (the difference between these two are spices used in the paste). And the taste of our local Larb is more of a mix between the Northern Larb and the Isarn Larb (Lab Kau is without roasted rice powder and sour seasonings).

My parents usually make fresh roasted chili paste (Prik Dum / Aka Black Chili) every time when we want to make Larb.  I always make a big jar of it, then store in my fridge for later use because I don’t want to smoke up my place every time I want to make this delicious dish. 😅

Oh! And this Prik Dum paste or roasted chili paste can be used in the clear Tom Yum Chicken (with Prik Dum) too. Hence, it is quite handy to have this paste ready in the fridge. I will show you how to make this tasty soup later. Pinky promise!😊

Ingredients: (2 servings)

~ 500g. minced chicken

~ 3 tbsp fish sauce

~ 3 tbsp tamarind sauce

~ 1 tsp msg or 1 tbsp stock powder (optional)

~ 3 tbsp roasted rice powder

~ 2 tbsp cooking oil

~ 1/2 cup of chopped coriander 

~ 1/2 cup of chopped scallions 

~ 1/2 cup of chopped sawtooth coriander (optional)

Prik Dum / Roasted Chili Paste

~ 1 whole garlic 

~ 3 large shallot 

~ 4 dried chili (depends on your level of spices)

~ 2 lemongrass (fine sliced)

~ 1 small thumb galangal (fine sliced)

~ 10 Szechuan pepper

How to:

✔️ Prepare Prik Dum by roasted garlic and shallot in a pan (or open fire) first until it is charred. Then add the rest of herbs and spices to roast together afterward. Transfer all the ingredients to a mortar and pound it until you get a semi fine paste.

✔️ Add minced chicken to a bowl and add Prik Dum paste, fish sauce, tamarind sauce, roasted rice powder and msg to the bowl. Mix it well together.

✔️ Heat up a pan, add cooking oil to cook the mixed chicken. Turn off the heat once the chicken is just cooked. (Don’t over cook the chicken to let it dry)

✔️ Add fresh herbs to the cooked Larb chicken. Mix it together. Then it is ready to serve.