I’m pretty sure I’ve told you guys this story before… but it’s one of my favorites so I’ll tell it again before we get into these Chicken Mushroom Larb Bowls with Coconut Rice!
Back when I first started culinary school I was a TOTAL picky eater. I hadn’t tried fish, I had no idea how to cook meat and I had never had a mushroom. During the vegetable week of culinary school, basically an intensive 7 days of learning how to make every vegetable under the sun, my culinary school teacher assigned each of us a vegetable. I, naturally, got mushrooms. I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do with a mushroom. Give me some corn or a bag of peas and let me do my thing. But mushrooms, omg. She looked at me and said, Gaby… if you don’t figure out how to cook mushrooms, you’ll never make it in the food world. I took that as a personal challenge and taught myself on the spot how to make the most incredible mushroom risotto I’ve ever had to this day. (side note, thank goodness for google back then!) Within 45 minutes I was HOOKED and now I’m all about mushrooms, ALL THE TIME. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I went to the farmers market or grocery story and didn’t come home with some sort of mushroom. They are my favorite vegetable hands down, and I love that they can either be a meat replacement or they can blend perfectly into any other kind of dish. To say I’m obsessed would be an understatement.
Mushrooms add so much flavor and depth into any recipe and today it’s upping the ante on one of my favorite recipes from my cookbook – the Chicken Mushroom Larb Bowl. OMG. If you’ve never heard of Larb before – it’s a staple dish of both Laos and Thailand. The Laotian version of Larb uses fish sauce and the Thai version omits the fish sauce and relies more on spices.
Chicken Mushroom Larb Bowls (with coconut rice!)
Ingredients
For the quick pickled vegetables
- 2 Persian cucumbers finely sliced
- ½ red onion finely sliced
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
For the Blended Chicken Mushroom Mixture
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 5 ounces kale stems removed and chopped
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 pound Shiitake and Maitake mushrooms finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 6 green onions thinly sliced
- 3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons sambal oleek 2 for medium spice, 3 for super spice!
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
For the Rice
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 teaspoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 lime zested and juiced
Garnish
- Fresh mint
- Fresh basil
- Fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Combine the cucumbers, red onion and rice vinegar in a small bowl and toss to combine. Let them marinate while you cook the chicken.
- In a large heavy bottom skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. Once hot, add the kale and sauté over medium high heat until wilted, about 5-6 minutes. Season with salt and carefully remove the kale and transfer to a medium bowl.
- In the same heavy bottom skillet, add the ground chicken and chopped mushrooms and using the back of a wooden spoon, break the chicken apart and let cook until no pink remains on the chicken and the mushrooms are caramelized, about 10-12 minutes. Once cooked, add the kale mixture back in and stir to combine.
- Once everything is back into the skillet, add the garlic and green onions and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the soy sauce, sambal oleek and brown sugar and stir to combine. Season with salt as needed and reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to use.
- Place the water, coconut milk, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan, and warm over medium-high heat until the mixture starts to simmer. Add the rice and bring back to a low simmer. Cover the pot with lid, then reduce the heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, for about 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and let the rice steam for another 5 to 10 minutes. Uncover, fluff, and season with the zest and juice of 1 lime.
- To assemble, place equal amounts of the coconut rice at the bottom of 4 bowls, followed by equal amounts of the chicken mushroom mixture, pickled vegetables and plenty of the fresh herbs. Serve immediately.
So vibrant and so beautiful ! Thank you so much !
Canned coconut milk? Sweetened? Unsweetened?
unsweetened
Love, love, love the coconut rice! It has changed my repertoire of rice dishes!!
Well this was a little gift to my inbox! Had just defrosted some ground turkey…what to make – need to check Gaby’s cookbook or website…Bam! This pops up. YUM! And can I just say that coconut rice…very, very dangerous. Thank you as always!
Gorgeous and FLAVOR PACKED. Love these bowls Gaby!
These bowls were fantastic. Literally scarfed it down. I added hoisin since I didn’t have brown sugar. Pickled cucumber and red onion make the dish with the bright taste. Rice was amaze-balls too. Loved it all.
SO GOOD! Will be making this again soon.
This looks so yummy! how many does this serve?
4!
Can you omit the sugar, or what do you recommend as a replacement?
yes – you can omit! no need for a replacement
This was so good! My husband wants more kale next time! Full of awesome flavors. May add a little crunch next time! Roasted cashews???
totally! yum
Absolutely loved this! I’m adding more kale and mushrooms next time to make it go a little further.
What is sambal oleek? Is there another spice one can use instead??
it’s available at Whole Foods!! You can use Sriracha if you can’t find it
Excellent dish but wasn’t sure if 1# total of mushrooms or 1# each….
1# of mushrooms total!
Could I use spinach instead of kale?
totally
This was SO good! Loved it will definitely be making it again
SO happy to hear this! xx
I LOVED this…cant recommend enough!
If I wanted to substitute riced cauliflower, would I cook it the same as the rice steps?
Nope! Great question. Cauliflower rice only takes a few moments to cook – I’d follow this recipe as a guide! https://dev.afterhoursagency.com/wgc/cauliflower-rice-kale-bowls-instant-pot-black-beans/
What about brown rice substitute?
brown rice is a great substitute!
To make this vegetarian do you think I could use lentils in place of the ground chicken?
absolutely!
love adding the mushrooms as a sneaky way to get more veggies in! and my husband was impressed that I cooked the rice without a rice cooker 😉
WOW. Been eye this for a while and finally the groceries aligned…Delicious, easy & wholesome! Thanks for a wonderful recipe!! Only thing I changed was brown rice (:
This recipe is fantastic and is now a weekly staple that I cook for my family. Everyone loves this and the flavor is amazing and complex
This was a marvelous dish for my husband and I on a work night. Easy to put together and clean up – a wok, rice cooker and cutting board. Now we have leftovers for lunch later in the week.
I had to leave the red onion out for the sake of my husbands tummy and thought I would miss the color. I added shredded carrot to the ground meat for color… and any excuse to sneak another veggie past my husband. The coconut rice make it a comforting dish, while the fresh herbs, cucumber and lime brighten it.
This or some variation, I will make often.
Do you think you could make the rice in a rice cooker?
yes! I do all the time
Larb bowls….Where have you been all my life?
One of my all time favorites!
This sounds like the absolute best dinner ever!!!
This was delicious and honestly pretty easy to make. The rice is yummy but if you wanted to lighten it up, you could serve it over cabbage.
The recipe instructions could be tweaked. Unless I am reading it incorrectly, there are two different times when you are told to add back in the kale. Also, you should be cooking the rice at the same time as you are cooking the chicken. Most people will realize this if you read the whole recipe prior to starting but a clarification would be helpful.
unseasoned or seasoned rice vinegar?
either works
Absolutely delicious! I tried the recipe from your cookbook first. Then tried the recipe above with mushrooms! The mushrooms add flavor and depth to the dish. I made it twice in one week. Thanks Gaby!
Enjoyed this dish. Great mix of flavors.
Can I meal prep this if I want to make it for my lunches for the week? Will it hold in the fridge and should I eat it hot?
yes absolutely and I prefer it warm!
Can you please clarify where you add the kale back in – it is asked for twice so not sure when to add it.
Other than that, love this recipe – the mushrooms combined with the heat and coconut milk are divine!
fixed
Incredible. I could eat this everyday. Made ahead for meal prep and heats up perfectly. Even 11 month old approved!
Loved this dish. My store was out of ground chicken and I substituted ground Turkey. Also, only used shiitake mushrooms. The herbs gave it a balance and the pickled cucumbers/onion gave it a punch. So good!