For the past 5 years of my life, the closest Thai restaurant has been two hours away in Memphis or Jackson. Since this is one of my MOST favorite kinds of food, and we lived around the corner from an AMAZING hole-in-the-wall place in Atlanta where we ate at least once a week, this had been one of the hardest parts of small-town Mississippi life. It meant that I needed to figure out some approximations of my favorite dishes…and I can say that I’ve gotten pretty good at massaman and green curry and larb.
But y’all! NOW, we live 30 minutes from a nice little spot in Hattiesburg, so we can basically eat Thai food whenever the craving strikes. It’s so fantastic.
A couple of weeks back when I made the venison Banh Mi, I ended up with some extra marinated meat. I brainstormed for a day and realized that it would be PERFECT as the base for a Mississippi-fied Larb dish, too. I decided to sub cabbage for collard greens (they’re related and have a similar texture anyway) and what resulted was a fun, southern take on this classic Thai appetizer. Is it as good as the Larb from Little Bangkok on Cheshire Bridge Road in ATL? You be the judge. 
What you need:
For the Vension & Marinade:
1 lb of ground venison (plain or mixed with pork/bacon)
4-5 Large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 small yellow onion, minced
1 Tablespoon pepper
1 Teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon Brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Hoisin sauce
1 Tablespoon Vietnamese Beef Sauce (for Noodle soups)
1 teaspoon of Sesame Oil
1 Tablespoon of Dry Sherry or Rice vinegar
To Serve:
Sriracha Mayonnaise (Mix some Sriracha in some mayonnaise. ;))
8 large Collard Green leaves, washed
3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
2 tablespoons crushed peanuts
What to do:
First, you’ll want to make your Venison marinade by mixing all the ingredients together and letting it sit in the refrigerator for at least 1.5 hours, if not 2. Not everyone is accustomed to the strong taste of venision, so the marinade gives the meat a sweeter flavor (like pork, sweet is a flavor profile that goes VERY well with venison).
Use a skillet with just one spray of pam or cooking oil to cook the meat once it’s finished marinading, then assemble your larb. I tried steaming the Collard green leaves AND also tried them raw, and I defintiely preferred the raw leaves. The hot venison meat kind of cooks the leaves anyway as you serve, and I thought that steaming the collards made them a bit tougher and lost the crunchy texture that I like so much. Sprinkle your peanuts and mint over the meat, put some pickled onions and peppers and greens in, fold the greens over and eat. And sigh.
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