Laj Ntses (Fish Larb) is a traditional Laotian recipe for a classic dish of finely-minced fish coured in lime juice that's mixed with herbs, spices and sticky rice powder before being seved in lettuce leaves. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Laotian version of: Fish Larb (Laj Ntses).
Clean and fillet the fish then remove the skins. Lay the fish on a large chopping block and use a cleaver to chop the fish meat into as fine pieces as you can. This is easiest done by initially slicing to produce smaller pieces then, by folding the pieces over themselves and chopping.
Place the fish in a non-reactive (glass or ceramic) bowl and pour over the lime juice then toss to mix with the fish. When the mixture is thoroughly combined set aside until the acid in the lime juice cures the fish and it turns opaque. Take the fish, a handful at a time, and squeeze out the excess lime juice then transfer the fish meat to a new non-reactive bowl.
Add the galangal, lemongrass, chillies, mint, coriander, spring onions, Vietnamese coriander, culantro, rice paddy herb, Thai basil and Chinese boxthorn leaves. Now sprinkle over the fish sauce and salt along with the Sichuan pepper and rice flour. Use your hands to toss the mixture.
Arrange the larb mixture on lettuce leaves, garnish with shredded herbs and serve.
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