Laab Moo
ลาบหมู
Laab Moo is minced pork Isaan salad — cooked pork dressed in lime juice, fish sauce, dried chilli, fresh mint, and the essential toasted rice powder (khao kua) that gives it a nutty crunch.
Cultural Origin
Laab Moo is a Lao-Isaan minced-pork salad seasoned with toasted rice powder, lime, fish sauce, dried chili, and abundant fresh herbs. It is a defining dish of the Khorat Plateau and the Mekong cultural region and is served with sticky rice and raw vegetables.
Regional Variants
| Region | How it differs |
|---|---|
| Northern | Northern (Lanna) laab is darker, drier, and uses a fragrant spice paste with little or no lime. |
| Isaan | Isaan laab is bright and tart with lime, fish sauce, toasted rice powder, and fresh mint. |
Allergens & Sensitivities
Key Ingredients
- minced pork
- toasted rice powder
- dried chilli flakes
- fresh mint
- lime juice
Taste profile
- Salty
- fish sauce, soy, shrimp paste
- Sweet
- palm sugar, coconut
- Sour
- lime, tamarind, fermentation
- Umami
- dried shrimp, fermented pastes, stock
Similar dry, crumbly texture to larb generally, but the pork version leans meatier and slightly fattier than chicken larb, with the toasted rice powder providing most of the aroma.
How Laab Moo Is Made
- 1
Toast rice powder
Rice is dry-toasted until deep golden and ground coarsely, prepared in advance as the defining aromatic.
- 2
Cook the pork
Minced pork is cooked through in a small amount of liquid, broken up as it cooks to keep the texture fine and even.
- 3
Season while hot
Fish sauce, lime juice and dried chilli flakes are stirred in while the pork is still hot so the seasoning is absorbed.
- 4
Add herbs and powder
Mint and the toasted rice powder are folded in last, off the heat.
- 5
Serve warm
The salad is plated warm with raw vegetables and sticky rice rather than left to cool.
When It’s Eaten
Served warm as part of a shared Isaan meal, almost always with sticky rice and a plate of raw cabbage or long beans on the side.
How to Order It
- ลาบหมูสุก
- larb mu suk
- cooked pork larb
- ไม่ใส่พริกป่น
- mai sai prik pon
- no dried chilli flakes
- ขอข้าวเหนียว
- khor khao niao
- sticky rice, please
What people get wrong
Not realising 'laab moo' and 'larb moo' are the same dish under different transliterations, which leads some visitors to order both expecting two different plates.
Where to Try It
Isaan restaurants throughout Thailand; particularly in northeastern provinces and Isaan restaurant clusters in Bangkok.
Tips
- The toasted rice powder is not optional — it is the ingredient that distinguishes Laab from all other minced meat salads.