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Salads are one of the most flavourful and often hottest dishes of a Thai meal. Laab also known as Larb or Laap is a fabulous tasty dish of northeastern Thailand, Isan/Isarn. It is the perfect dish to start any Thai meal.

Laab is usually eaten as a part of a group of small dishes (laab, Som Tom (papaya salad) and sticky rice.) This course is accompanied by green beans, small slivers of cabbage, water spinach, eggplants, and Thai basil. It can be served as an appetizer or along with drinks. In Isan there are many favoured small dishes which are snack or drink foods. Laab can also be served as a main side dish along with other non-northeastern food.

There are variations of laab, duck laab, chicken laab, pork laab and even such as pieces of liver laab which many Isan people love. In Isan a bitter element is also an option that is often used in Laab. In Issan there are several bitter nuts and roots that often used in salads and other dishes. These ingredients are not common outside Laos or Isan.

Laab is a wonderful hot and sour salad from Isan, Thailand region. It's also very low in fat, but bursts with flavour. The primary flavours are hot or spicy (from the chile), sour (from the lime juice) and salty (from the fish sauce) If you want a circus on your tongue, try Laab. It's also can be made very quickly - less than 10 minutes if you work fast.

Laap is kind of a meat salad in that it is ground or chopped meat mixed with lots of herbs and a spicy limey sauce and is served at room temperature. Laap muu (pork) is the most famous, but common is Laap Gai (chicken). My favourites are laap bpet (duck) and laap plaa duk (catfish) laap - watch for those recipes in the future.

Thai Chicken Salad (Laab)
Laab is a wonderful Issan Salad with the fresh flavours of mint, cilantro, lime juice, and spicy ground pork or chicken salad with chile pepper and fish sauce.

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