Laab Gai (Chicken)

Warm Chicken Salad

This is a fantastic Warm Chicken Salad Recipe, or Laab Gai in Thai.  Basically its a minced chicken salad that is served warm and it’s a very popular Thai salad recipe served all over Thailand not just the North. See below for more information on Isaan Food

It is unusual in several ways but the most noticeable (apart from being warm) is the texture, is has a lovely grainy feel which is provided by the freshly ground Toasted Rice, this soaks up the watery cooking stock to provide a wonderful depth of flavour which compliments and supports the highs of the sour lime and spicy chilli powder which is all rounded off to perfection with lots of fresh mint.

The recipe originates from the Isaan region of Northern Thailand.

Isaan Food:
The primary food of Isaan people is sticky rice which is eaten with the fingers. This is supplemented with various other dishes such as this Laab Gai recipe in fact.  In addition to standard Thai vegetables, they eat the leaves of many trees, so are most water plants.

These dishes often have a large amount of chillies, making them extremely spicy.  (Too spicy in this writers opinion, all heat and little flavour.)

Protein foods are the most expensive and for this reason eaten the least. Beef is seldom part of the menu. Fish they catch themselves, pork and home grown chicken are fairly common and often eaten in small pieces with sticky rice. Other sources of protein are snakes, frogs, rats and many types of insects.

You rarely find calcium in the diet since milk, cheese and other dairy products are not used. Many women suffer from osteoporosis as a result of this.

There is no distinction between the dishes eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Spicy stir fried vegetables with sticky rice are just as likely to be eaten in the morning as in the evening.

Water, beer or other soft drinks are the drink of choice with meals.