Larb (lâap)
ลาบ
lâap
The name, part by part — it reads straight through
| Part | Sound | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ลาบ | lâap | minced and dressed warm — chopped fine, cooked briefly, then tossed off the heat with lime, fish sauce, chilli powder, herbs and toasted rice powder |
A one-word name that is a method word: meat minced and dressed warm. It names no ingredient at all, which is why it always takes a following word — ลาบหมู, ลาบไก่, ลาบเห็ด.
ลาบ is northeastern and Lao rather than central Thai, and its further derivation is not something to assert. In particular, the pun Thais make at new-year tables — กินลาบให้มีลาภ, eat larb to get lucky, on ลาภ, fortune — is wordplay, not an etymology; do not repeat it as one. And in the north ลาบเมือง is a different, spice-bittered dish. The name also does not tell you whether it is cooked: ลาบดิบ is raw, and ขอสุกครับ is the polite way to decline it.
How Thai dish names are built, in full: Thai food, dish by dish.
Isaan minced-meat salad: pork, chicken or duck tossed warm with lime, fish sauce, chilli powder, mint, shallots and ข้าวคั่ว (khâao khûa, toasted rice powder), the ingredient that makes larb larb. Eaten with sticky rice and raw vegetables.
Spice hot Chilli powder plus warm meat: sneaks up on you.
What is in it Minced pork/chicken/duck, lime juice, fish sauce, roasted chilli powder, toasted-rice powder, shallots, spring onion, mint, coriander.
Vegetarian and allergies ลาบเห็ด (lâap hèt, mushroom larb) is a real dish, not an adaptation, and excellent.
Say it at every level
A1.1 Order it
ลาบหมูครับ (lâap mǔu khráp), pork larb, with ข้าวเหนียว (khâao nǐao, sticky rice).
A2 Make it yours
Eat it the Isaan way: pinch of sticky rice in the fingers, scoop the larb, chase with the raw cabbage and beans on the plate. Ask for less heat honestly: พริกน้อยหน่อยครับ.
B1 Talk about it
ข้าวคั่ว is your B1 flex: หอมข้าวคั่ว (fragrant with toasted rice) tells the cook you know what the smell IS. Duck larb, ลาบเป็ด, is the order that upgrades you from customer to guest.
C1 to native Own it
In the North, ลาบ means a different, spice-bittered dish (ลาบเมือง), sometimes raw (ลาบดิบ), and accepting or declining raw larb gracefully, ขอสุกครับ (cooked for me, please), is a real cultural moment. There is also the pun ลาภ (fortune) = ลาบ: กินลาบให้มีลาภ, eat larb to get lucky, said at new-year tables.
Hungry for the words too? Ordering food phrases