How to cook Thai Toasted Sticky Rice

Toasted Sticky Rice (khao kua) gives a crunchy texture and nutty flavour to Larb.

Watch Dominique recorded live during her Thai cooking class at Putia School

Larb is a staple of Thai food, it’s easy to make, and it’s a brilliant combination of ingredients. A spoon of larb followed by a ball of fresh sticky rice, is one of the great  flavours of Thai cuisine.

Larb is a Thai salad, but it’s not a vegetable salad, instead it’s a meat salad. The minced pork is wonderfully seasoned with fish sauce, chili flakes, lime juice, toasted sticky rice to give it some crunchy texture, and a wonderful assortment of fresh herbs to bring it all together.

What you need is a ¼ cup white sticky rice.

How to toast the sticky rice

Heat a frying pan on low heat, toss in the uncooked Thai sticky rice (no oil).
Stir continuously, kind of like you’re roasting peanuts or coffee.
Toast the rice until it turns from white to golden yellow, almost to the point where it looks like brown wheat.
It will also be very fragrant and smell almost like popcorn. About 15 minutes or so.
Once the rice is finished toasting, and has cooled off a bit, put it into your stone mortar and pestle.
Pound the rice until it turns into a coarse powder (a blender or food processor will also work fine).
Put your toasted sticky rice powder in a bowl aside, ready to add to the Larb.