Larb Khom (ลาบขม / ลาบแป้)
dish / dish-larb-khom
ラープ・コム
Northern Thai bitter larb variant (documented for Phrae province) made from beef or buffalo; distinguished from other larb by the addition of เพี้ย (intestinal contents) or bile (น้ำดี) of the animal, which gives the dish its bitter taste.
On this page (9 sections)
Reading the bitterness
Larb khom, also called larb pae, is a type of larb made with beef or buffalo meat. A regional cuisine account from the Phrae Provincial Cultural Office attributes its bitterness to the addition of intestinal contents (phia) or beef or buffalo bile (nam di), ingredients absent from other larb.
The chili paste is made by pounding dried chilies, galangal, makhwaen (a type of prickly ash), shallots, garlic, salt, and long pepper, then mixing it with finely chopped meat and blanched offal. The dish may be eaten raw or cooked, and is described as being served with fresh vegetables.
This record is limited to a single regional cuisine account posted by the Phrae Provincial Cultural Office in 2020. It gives no quantities or information about how widely the dish is found elsewhere in northern Thailand. It also gives no numerical or sensory assessment of bitterness, and the source does not explain how cooks choose between intestinal contents and bile.
Receptor assays using a heterologous cell system have shown that bile acids in beef and buffalo bile activate human bitter taste receptors. Cholic acid, taurocholic acid, and lithocholic acid all activate human TAS2R1, with lithocholic acid among the most potent of the bile acids tested. These data come from a cell-level receptor activation assay, not from a sensory evaluation of larb khom itself or of bile used in the dish.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: The cultural record attributes the bitterness that distinguishes this dish from other larb to the addition of intestinal contents or bile. / The same record describes the chili paste ingredients and how they are mixed with the meat and offal. / Metadata identifying this as a single account posted by the Phrae Provincial Cultural Office in 2020.
Physiological activation of human and mouse bitter taste receptors by bile acids
Checked for this overview: The concentrations at which various bile acids activate TAS2R1 and the high potency of lithocholic acid.
Other names: ลาบขม (th), ลาบแป้ (th), larb khom (th-Latn)
Follow the connections
Larb Khom (ลาบขม / ลาบแป้) →is documented in→ Northern Thailand
Larb Khom (ลาบขม / ลาบแป้) →— perceived bitterness is a…→ TAS2R1
Hypotheses and recipe candidates for this entry are on the Japanese page.
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Mechanism and receptors (1)
Scope: Layer: cell. A receptor-activation assay (a functional assay such as cAMP or calcium imaging; the paper's main experiment) using a heterologous cell system expressing 5 human bitter taste receptors, including human TAS2R1.
Show data
dish-larb-khom —has_perceived_bitterness_associated_with→ receptor-tas2r1How processing and cooking change it (1)
Scope: An introduction to a local dish of Phrae Province, Thailand. A page posted by the Phrae Provincial Cultural Office at the Cultural Information Center (Ministry of Culture)
Note: It is also introduced under the alternate name 「ลาบแป้」 (larb pae). Quantities and how widely it is distributed inside or outside the province are not described.
Show data
dish-larb-khom —is_defined_as→ "A type of larb made with beef or water-buffalo meat. It is given bitterness by adding, as an ingredient not found in other larb, 「เพี้ย」 (in translation: "sediment in the intestines") or the 「น้ำดี」 (in translation: "bile") of cattle or water buffalo. The chili paste for the larb is made by finely grinding dried chili, galangal, makhwaen (a type of Sichuan pepper), shallot, garlic, salt, and long pepper, which is mixed into the finely chopped meat and parboiled offal and eaten either raw or cooked through (khua). Raw vegetables are served alongside."Culture (1)
Scope: One record registered in 2020 by the provincial cultural office as a local dish of Phrae Province (northern Thailand)
Note: Its distribution across other parts of northern Thailand outside Phrae Province has not been confirmed.
Show data
dish-larb-khom —is_documented_in→ region-northern-thailand