Larb is one of my favorite dishes to get at the local Thai restaurant unfortunately they lack a pork larb.  I have debated talking to management about the lack of love for the precious pig but decided it would be cheaper to just create my own and cut out the middle man.

This dish also helped me cut down drastically on the amount of meat in my freezers and pretty soon you will see some creative posts especially when I get to pig’s heart.   Yes you read that right I managed to acquire a pig’s heart from my last whole hog purchase.  Have no freaking clue what I can do with it but hey in keeping with my old school name it could be a disaster.

This dish also pisses me off because in true Jeff fashion I had to make it after I cleared out the herb garden so I had to head to the store to buy the fresh herbs.  I was cool with that until I saw how much they are charging you for a small container of mint…grrr.  Time to install some grow lights and grow herbs indoors.  I hope this does not put me back on a DEA watch list because I can not afford to go back to jail (you will never take me alive copper).

For this recipe you need:

• 2 lbs of ground pork
• 1 onion finely diced
• 1-2 jalapenos finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic finely diced
• Thumb size piece of ginger finely diced
• Juice of 1 lime
• 3 tablespoons of fish sauce
• Heavy pinch of sugar
• 1/2 cup of fresh mint finely diced
• 1/2 cup of fresh corainder finely diced
• 1/2 cup of bay leaf finely diced
• Spoonfuls upon spoonfuls of sambal oelek
• Spoonfuls upon spoonfuls of Sriracha (p.s. Asian markets are the cheapest place to find sambal and siraracha)
• Toasted sesame oil

This is where it gets difficult so hold on:

• Brown pork, drain, set aside (you may need to add some oil to the pan if the pork is sticking)
• Lower the heat to medium, saute the onion and jalapeno until soft (about 5 minutes), add in the garlic and ginger, and saute for another 30 seconds.
• Add in the pork, lime juice, sambal, siraracha, fish sauce, herbs, sugar, and a couple dashes of sesame oil.
• Taste…are you happy?  If not add more sambal and siraraha because those two ingredients make everything taste better.

Serve and enjoy!