Larb, but make it gnocchi

Name: Larb, but make it gnocchi
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 × 16 oz package shelf-stable potato gnocchi (16 to 17 oz); 1 lb ground pork or chicken; 1 small shallot, thinly sliced; 4 scallions, whites and greens separated and thinly sliced; 4 tbsp fish sauce (divided, 3 for the sauce and 1 to finish); 1 tbsp palm or brown sugar; ⅔ cup coconut milk (full-fat); 3 limes, juiced (plus wedges to serve); 1 tsp sambal oelek (or gochugaru, 1 to 2 tsp to taste); ⅓ cup roasted peanuts (half crushed fine, half roughly chopped); 1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped; a big handful of mint, torn; a big handful of Thai basil, torn (Italian basil works, use a little less); neutral oil, only if the pan goes dry

The gnocchi go back in the pan and drink a coconut glaze. Fish sauce, lime, a jungle of herbs.

At a Glance

Time

30 min

Serves

Story

Larb is the national dish of Laos, a loud warm salad of minced meat built on fish sauce, lime and a mountain of soft herbs. Traditionally it is bound with khao khua, raw rice toasted dark and ground, which thickens the dressing so it clings instead of running off. A reduced coconut sauce does that job here, and the trick is that everything goes back into the pan warm to drink it. Warm minced meat takes a sauce in. Cold meat only wears it.

Ingredients

1 × 16 oz package shelf-stable potato gnocchi16 to 17 oz
1 lb ground pork or chicken
1 small shallotthinly sliced
4 scallionswhites and greens separated and thinly sliced
4 tbsp fish saucedivided, 3 for the sauce and 1 to finish
1 tbsp palm or brown sugar
⅔ cup coconut milkfull-fat
3 limesjuiced (plus wedges to serve)
1 tsp sambal oelekor gochugaru, 1 to 2 tsp to taste
⅓ cup roasted peanutshalf crushed fine, half roughly chopped
1 bunch cilantroroughly chopped
a big handful of minttorn
a big handful of Thai basiltorn (Italian basil works, use a little less)
neutral oilonly if the pan goes dry

Method

The sauce gets built in the pan the pork and gnocchi just left, then everything goes back in to drink it. Taste hard at the end and be bossy, because starch mutes whatever it touches.

Brown the meat with the shallot in a dry large skillet over medium high, breaking it into craggy bits, 5 to 6 minutes, until browned but still juicy. Stop before it goes crisp at the edges, that is a minute past where you want it. Tip the meat into a large bowl and take about half the fat with it, leaving the rest in the pan.
Crisp the gnocchi in that pan, a splash of oil only if it looks dry, 8 to 10 minutes, tossing every 2, until golden. The pork fond is the whole point, the gnocchi drink it up. Tip them into the bowl with the meat.
Turn the heat to medium and pour 3 tbsp of the fish sauce, the sugar and the coconut milk into the empty pan. Scrape up everything the gnocchi left behind. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes, until it thickens and the coconut fat starts to separate at the edges. That splitting is the marker worth waiting for. It means the milk has concentrated and the flavor has gone deep rather than merely sweet.
Tip the whole bowl back in. Toss to coat and cook 2 to 3 minutes, turning it gently, until the gnocchi have drunk their fill and everything is glossy. It will tighten as they drink, so splash in water a little at a time until it moves and coats again. You are loosening the texture, not thinning the flavor.
Off the heat, add the lime juice, the last tablespoon of fish sauce, the sambal and the scallion whites. Taste and be bossy. It should land loud and sour and salty first, the heat close behind, the coconut underneath rather than out front. If it tastes balanced standing there in the pan it will taste flat on the plate, so go further than feels sensible.
Fold in the cilantro, mint and basil by the fistful along with the finely crushed peanuts, so the herbs barely wilt. For a moment it should look like more herb than anything else.
Pile it high and take it straight to the table, with the scallion greens, the roughly chopped peanuts and lime wedges on the side.