Ground Pork with Fresh Herbs (Laab Muu)

The flavours in this dish are so intense, the saltiness of the fish sauce, the sour of the lime juice, the spiciness of the chili powder, the onion flavour of the shallots, the intense mint and peppery thai basil, really compliment the pork (though one could use ground chicken - then it would be Laab Gai). This is also a fairly healthy dish, no oil is used to cook the pork, and the extra ingredients are not cooked, just added together at the end. It is easy and quick to make, but assemble all the ingredients except the ground pork, so you can add these quickly as soon as the pork is finished. A great dish.

Ground Pork with Fresh Herbs (Laab Muu)
adapted from a recipe from Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
1/4 cup water
300 g ground pork
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots, slices separated into rings
juice of 1/2 lime
3 Tbsp Thai fish sauce, or to taste
1/2 cup packed equal parts mint leaves and Thai basil, coarsely torn, plus small sprigs for garnish
Spice blend made from 2 tsp roasted rice powder, 1/4 tsp chili powder, 1/8 tsp garlic powder and 1/8 tsp ground coriander

Add water and ground pork together and stir-fry until done.

Add spice blend, the shallots, fish sauce and lime juice and stir to combine. Add herbs and again stir to combine.