Laab is the perfect summer food and is something I crave when I want a meal that is warm and filling, but still refreshing and light. The flavoursome mushrooms and tofu are cooked with a powerful punch of ginger and garlic, then spooned into lettuce cups and laden with fragrant herbs, bringing you a South-East Asian flavour bomb that is irresistibly moreish.
If you haven’t cooked with Thai basil or Vietnamese mint before, I implore you to try them as their flavours really make this recipe.
Ingredients 14
Sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sambal oelek
1 tsp maple syrup
1⁄3 cup soy sauce
Filling
3 tbsp olive oil
3 spring onions (scallions), trimmed, white parts cut into thin rounds
1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
150 g mixed mushrooms, cleaned, finely chopped, no need to be too exact in the chopping
450 g firm tofu, drained and pressed, then crumbled
1 tbsp toasted black sesame seeds
To Serve
2 heads gem lettuce (bibb lettuce), leaves separated, washed and dried
Handful asian herbs, fresh, such as thai basil, vietnamese mint and coriander (cilantro), leaves picked
Your new home
for cooking
Turn your recipe chaos into a plan for the week.
Browse 1000+ inspiring creator recipes
Unlimited recipe import from social media, blogs and more
Generate shopping lists and meal plans in seconds with AI
Method 4
To make the sauce, mix the , , , , and together in a small cup or jar and then set aside.
For the filling, heat the in a large frying pan over a medium–high heat. Add the and and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant,
Add the , and and cook for 5–10 minutes, stirring frequently, until all the liquid from the mushrooms has been released and has evaporated.
Stir in the sauce and cook for a further 5 minutes until the starts to brown. Stir in the , remove from the heat and spoon the filling into cups. Garnish with fresh to serve.
Jessica Prescott's tips
Any leftover tofu mixture will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 days. It also makes an excellent dumpling filling.
