← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 400 g duck breasts (skin removed and half kept), minced, or ready-minced duck
• 3 tbsp Water
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1½ tbsp Fish sauce
• ½ tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp toasted chilli flakes (to taste)
• 2 tbsp toasted rice powder (khao khua)
• 4 Shallot, thinly sliced
• 3 Makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, very finely shredded
• 3 Spring onion, chopped
• 1 handful Mint
• 1 handful coriander or culantro, chopped
• 1 cucumber, long beans and cabbage, to serve

Method

1. Finely chop a little of the duck skin and render it in a dry pan over medium heat for 3–4 minutes until crisp. Lift out, leaving the fat.
2. Add the minced duck and water and cook over medium heat for 3–4 minutes, breaking it up, until just cooked through with no pink left. Turn off the heat.
3. Stir in the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chilli flakes while the duck is still warm.
4. Add the toasted rice, shallots, lime leaves, spring onion, herbs and crispy skin and toss well.
5. Taste for a sour-salty-spicy balance, then serve with sticky rice and raw vegetables.

Tips

• Ask your butcher to mince duck breasts or legs; mince with a little fat stays juicy.
• Toasted rice powder: dry-fry raw sticky rice until deep golden, then grind.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hungry in Thailand Serious Eats