Thai Recipe – Laab Pet
If you compare a duck's egg with a hen's egg, which one comes out on top? The right answer is that each one has its strong points. Most people prefer hen eggs, however, and it is easy to find them for sale in any fresh market or supermarket where they are bought in much greater amounts than duck eggs. But even though duck eggs rank low in popularity, they have a historically more important role in Thai cooking than hen eggs. Half a century ago, they were much more popular in Thailand than hen eggs, and much easier to get hold of.
Many duck farmers used to raise their birds by allowing them to roam freely in rice farmers' fields, a system called pet lai thung in Thai. This worked out well for both farmers and ducks. In those days the paddies were plagued by a pest known as the cherry snail. These voracious animals destroyed a significant number of rice plants. The most effective exterminators of cherry snails were big flocks of ducks. Rice farmers welcomed the itinerant ducks, which immediately set to work devouring the snails until the last one was gone.
Many duck farmers used to raise their birds by allowing them to roam freely in rice farmers' fields, a system called pet lai thung in Thai. This worked out well for both farmers and ducks. In those days the paddies were plagued by a pest known as the cherry snail. These voracious animals destroyed a significant number of rice plants. The most effective exterminators of cherry snails were big flocks of ducks. Rice farmers welcomed the itinerant ducks, which immediately set to work devouring the snails until the last one was gone.
Ingredients (serves 4)
| Duck breast (about 800 grams) 10 lime leaves (fresh) 3 chillies (fresh or dried) 3 garlic cloves (roughly chopped) 15ml fish sauce 15g toasted rice powder 5g chilli flakes (dried) 5 sprigs coriander (cut into 5mm pieces) 6 spring onions (white and pale green part only, cut into 5 cm pieces) 1 handful fresh mint leaves 30ml fresh lime juice 25g fried shallots 200ml cooking oil Fresh vegetables |
|
Directions
Remove the skin from the duck breasts. Slice the skin into thin strips, then mince the meat (either by putting it through a meat grinder or by finely chopping with a sharp knife).
Put the cooking oil into a wok set over a medium-high flame. When the oil is hot, add the lime leaves and fry them until they darken slightly. Drain them on paper towels. If using dried chillies, fry them until they darken slightly, then drain on paper towels.
Pour the oil out of the wok into a bowl. Place the wok over a medium flame. Add the duck skin and stir constantly until the fat has rendered out and the skin is lightly browned and crisp. Remove the duck skin from the wok and drain on paper towels.
Pour off all but about 20ml of the duck fat from the wok. Place the wok over a high flame then add the garlic and let it sizzle briefly. Add the duck meat and break it up with a spatula. Stir in the fish sauce, toasted rice powder and chilli flakes. Stir-fry the ingredients until the duck meat is cooked. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally to release the steam.
Just before serving, stir in the coriander, spring onions, mint leaves and lime juice. Add most of the lime leaves, fresh or whole dried chillies and fried shallots, leaving behind some of each ingredient for garnish. Mix thoroughly then spoon the laab onto a serving plate. Add the reserved lime leaves, chillies and fried shallots, then serve with the raw vegetables for added authenticity, sticky rice.