How to Make Duck Larb with Chef Harold Dieterle of Kin Shop

[Photographs J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

The Duck Larb that Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle makes at his Thai restaurant Kin Shop (review here) is among the best I've had, in Thailand or out. Rarely do you find such a perfect balance between the hot, pungent, sour, and aromatic ingredients that are the hallmark to this classic dish. Duck may not be the most traditional main ingredient, but the flavors (and the heat!) are about as hardcore Thai as you can get.

One of the classic dishes of Isan—the Northeastern section of Thailand heavily influenced by neighboring Laos, larb (or laap or laab depending on your preferred mode of phoneticization) is a warm salad of cooked ground meat flavored with fish sauce, lime juice, hot dried chilis, a few aromatics (shallots, garlic, herbs), and a dusting of khao kua—toasted rice powder.

Check out the recipe here, or the slideshow for step-by-step instructions.

Kin Shop

469 Avenue of the Americas, New York NY 10011 (map) 212-675-4295

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