Larb is the national dish of Laos. You might have seen it on the menu pages of your local Thai or Southeast Asian restaurant as a meat salad dish, but today I’m going to show you how to prepare a mushroom larb for a totally vegan recipe!

Cooking down mushrooms is a little tricky, as they’re not really quite done when they look done. You actually have to heat them up until they release liquid, and keep them on the heat because they’ll reabsorb the liquid and totally enhance their flavor. The great thing about this process is that it extends the mushroom shelf life as well, so try this trick when you have fresh mushrooms  that you still don’t know what to do with. I actually keep a bag of these in my freezer to use when I’m in a pinch. Also, be warned that this recipe yields a very spicy mushroom larb. If you’re not keen on the heat, feel free to cut down the amount of chili flakes and bird’s eye chilis. Enjoy!