Laab—ground beef seasoned with chiles, lime juice, fish sauce, and mint—is a traditional Thai meat salad eaten warm or at room temperature. We've added thin noodles to turn it into a pasta salad, but you can always eat the meat mixture by itself; just cut down on the fish sauce, or the beef may be too salty. Slideshow: More Thai Recipes
How to Make It
In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until just done, about 5 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain thoroughly. Toss the pasta with 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil.
In a large frying pan, toast the almonds over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Or toast the nuts in a 350° oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the nuts from the pan and chop them.
In a large frying pan, heat the remaining tablespoon of cooking oil over moderately high heat. Add half the jalapeño, the ginger, beef, and salt. Cook the meat, stirring frequently, until brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining tablespoon sesame oil, the fish sauce, scallions, mint, and lime juice.
Put the pasta on plates and top with the beef salad. Sprinkle with the remaining minced jalapeño and the chopped almonds and serve with the lime wedges.
Notes
Asian fish sauce available at Asian markets and most supermarkets.