Buckwheat, Lime, and Herb Salad, Larb Style

Ingredients

Peanut or canola oil

2 cups (360 g) uncooked buckwheat groats

Kosher salt

½ cup (75 g) chopped shallots

6 tablespoons (90 ml) fresh lime juice (from about

2limes)

1small fresh red Thai or serrano chile, seeded, deribbed, and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons finely grated or minced garlic

¼ cup (60 ml) fish sauce (I like

Red Boat brand

Leaves and tender stems from

1 bunch mint

Leaves and tender stems from

½ bunch cilantro

1cup (120 g) diagonally sliced scallions, trimmed (including ½ inch/1.25 cm of the green tops), soaked in ice water for 20 minutes, and drained well

1¼ cups (175 g) roughly chopped salted roasted peanuts

Many small iceberg lettuce leaves or hearts of romaine leaves

Radishes, cucumber slices, lime wedges, and chile sauce or other hot sauce, forserving

Directions

Heat a glug of oil in a heavy- bottomed medium skillet over medium heat. Add a little less than half the buckwheat and cook, stirring frequently, until toasted. Take your time, because you don't want it to get too dark, but you do want it thoroughly toasted. It should take 5 to 7 minutes, but start tasting around 4 minutes. The texture should be crisp but not hard and the flavor will be nutty and pleasant. When it's ready, dump the buckwheat onto a sheet pan and spread out to cool.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil, and add 1 teaspoon salt and the remaining buckwheat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the buckwheat is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain well and let cool.

Combine the shallots and lime juice in a medium bowl and let sit for about 20 minutes; this will remove some of the harshness of the raw shallots. Stir in the chile, garlic, fish sauce, 3 tablespoons oil, and 1 teaspoon salt.

Transfer the cooked buckwheat to a large bowl, pour on the shallot dressing, and toss thoroughly. (You can do this up to 30 minutes before you serve the salad.)

Just before serving, toss in the toasted buckwheat, mint, cilantro, scallions, and peanuts. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more lime juice, fish sauce, or salt.

Arrange the lettuce leaves and other garnishes on a platter, along with the buckwheat mix. Serve right away, inviting the diners to fill lettuce leaves with the buckwheat mixture, some radish and cucumber, and a squeeze of lime. Add hot sauce to taste!

Notes

One of my favorite Thai dishes-actually, one my favorite dishes from any cuisine-is larb, a salad usually made with seasoned pork, lots of lime juice, fresh herbs, and chiles that's served with lettuces and more herbs with which to scoop up the pork. I got inspired by the flavor and texture combinations and decided to make a vegetarian version, using buckwheat instead of the ground meat. The pairing of crunchy toasted buckwheat and tender, chewy simmered buckwheat creates a fabulous texture. So much of deliciousness comes from texture, right? This recipe makes a large amount, perfect for a party, but feel free to cut the quantities in half. —Serves 8