There is something primally delicious about larb, a salad from Laos in which the dressing is king. It’s rare for a dish to tick all the flavour boxes, but larb is sweet, sour, salty, bitter and has bagfuls of umami. Here, aubergine, which is baked until the flesh is soft and creamy, sits alongside sticky rice, and both act as perfect vehicles on which to transport the much punchier flavours of tamarind, soy, chilli and lime. The recipe is based on one I ate at Supawan in King’s Cross, London, one of the finest Thai restaurants I’ve ever been to.
You can speed up this recipe by juggling what you cook and when – for example, while the aubergines are baking and the rice is cooking, start on the salad and dressing.
Prep 15 min Soak 30 min Cook 1 hr Serves 4
350g glutinous rice, such as Thai Taste
For the larb 4 small to medium aubergines (around 250g each) Rapeseed oil Salt 2 tbsp palm sugar 2 tbsp lime juice 2½ tbsp soy sauce 2 tsp tamarind paste 1½ bird’s eye chilli, very finely chopped For the salad 3 tbsp rapeseed oil 200g shallots, peeled, halved lengthways and finely sliced Scant ½ tsp salt 40g ground peanuts (just pop them in a food processor or spice grinder) 1 large handful coriander, finely chopped 40 Thai basil leaves, finely chopped ½ red bird’s eye chilli, minced 1 tbsp lime juice
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas 6. Cover the rice with cold water and leave to soak for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, cut the aubergines in half lengthways and score a criss-cross pattern on the cut sides. Brush all over with oil and put cut side up on two baking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes, brush the cut side with more oil and bake for another 20-25 minutes, until creamy inside.
Meanwhile, make the rice and the salad. Drain the rice, put it in a pot, cover with 520ml water and add half a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to its lowest setting and simmer for 15 minutes, until all the water has evaporated and the rice is cooked. Cover with a lid, and leave to stand for at least 10 minutes.
To make the salad, heat the oil in small frying pan on a medium flame and, when hot, fry the shallots until brown and crisp, around 20 minutes. Take off the heat, stir in the salt, ground peanuts, herbs, chilli and lime juice, then taste and adjust the lime, chilli or salt as you wish.
To make the larb dressing, put the palm sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, tamarind paste and chilli in a small saucepan with eight tablespoons of water. Heat, stirring, until the sugar melts, then take off the heat, taste and add up to half a teaspoon of salt, if need be.
To serve, put a flat mound of rice on each plate, layer over two aubergine halves, pour on the dressing and sprinkle the salad on top.
