Author Archives: Bangkok Glutton

I’m in what could be fairly characterized as a COVID lockdown/rainy season/away from home-induced rut, and when that happens all the ghosts of past regrets like to come up and haunt me when I least expect them. To drive those ghosts away, I have been doing a lot of yoga, reading mystery novels and even cooking — something I have had to force myself to do every day because I have been enveloped in a depression masking as a lazy stupor.

One of the dishes I’ve put my hand to is this duck larb, rustled up after a family friend sent what I can conservatively estimate as 10 Chinese-style roast ducks to our doorstep in Phuket. The meat was finely hand-chopped (good, mindless work that also helps with any latent aggression) and the skin lifted from the carcass and re-crisped in smoking hot oil along with dried chilies and a handful of torn magrood lime leaves. The meat was tossed in an Isaan-style larb dressing and mixed in with toasted, pulverized rice kernels and the crispy bits at the last minute. It was heaven with a big bamboo basket of sticky rice, the juicy leaves of fresh gem lettuce, and a handful of sawtooth coriander (when did we start calling it culantro?).

Behold, the recipe below. Of course, if you haven’t picked up an extra roast duck from your friendly local duck purveyor, you can still thaw out a couple of duck legs from the freezer, peel off the skin to crisp in hot oil later, and mince the nice tasty meat to your satisfaction.

Duck Larb (for 4-6 people)

• 500 g Chinese-style roast duck, skin removed and meat finely chopped
• 6 Tbsps water
• 2 Tbsps fish sauce
• 2 tsps salt
• 2-3 Tbsps dried chili powder (or more, if you like it spicy)
• 6 shallots, sliced thinly
• 2-3 Tbsps toasted rice kernels, ground to a powder
• 5-6 kaffir/magrood lime leaves, torn
• Handful of dried chilies
• Unscented cooking oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• Fresh vegetables to go with your larb (cucumbers, mint leaves, coriander leaves, lettuce leaves)
• Steamed or sticky rice

1. First, make your toasted rice powder, which is probably the most complicated part of this recipe. In a flat nonstick pan, pour an even layer of white rice kernels (the better to control the heat) over medium-high heat. When the rice starts turning golden and the smell reaches your nostrils, turn the heat down to medium-low and shake the pan a bit. Continue shaking/tossing the kernels to get them as evenly golden-brown as possible. They should be the color of a salad bowl from Ikea. After about 6-9 minutes (this really depends on the heat of your stove and how good you are at tossing the kernels in the pan), you should be finished. Let the kernels rest for a few minutes. Then grind your kernels in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder or, if you’re really in a pinch, on a cutting board with the bottom of a clean pan.
2. In a clean saucepan, heat over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Add your 6 Tbsps of water and add your duck immediately after. Shuffle it around in the pan; even if the meat sticks, the juices will eventually come out and help the bits on their journey to the land of the cooked. This should take about 3-5 minutes.
3. In another pan, heat an inch of cooking oil over high heat. Crisp your torn lime leaves, working quickly and set to drain on a plate lined with a paper towel. Do the same with the dried chilies.
4. Transfer duck and juices to a bowl and add shallots and rice powder.
5. Add salt and fish sauce, tasting as you go.
6. Add dried chili powder and taste to see if you want more.
7. Add lime juice and taste.
8. Mix in deep-fried lime leaves and dried chilies and serve immediately.

In light of all of the dispiriting news coming out of Bangkok recently, I wanted to write a more upbeat post about the people who make our day-to-day lives easier. Without a doubt, that means writing about the food delivery workers who help me live my life as a semi-professional couch potato. Thanks to them, I have enjoyed delicious noodles courtesy of JC Yen Ta Fo, scrumptious chocolate babka from Kad Kokoa, French-style baguette sandwiches from Vivin Grocery, Shake Shack-like burgers from Bun Meat and Cheese, meltingly soft filled doughnuts from Holy Donut Paczkarnia, vegan empanadas from Courageous Kitchen, and even Chicago-style pizza, thanks to Papa’s Chicago Pizza. I usually contact these purveyors directly through Facebook Messenger or Instagram. It’s a big food world out there, courtesy of the intrepid small business entrepreneurs and motorcycle delivery people who are able to make it happen.

But if I were to single out one place (and I’m afraid this is exactly what I am doing right here) then it would have to be Little Market. Their Philly cheesesteak (with house-made cheese whiz!) is what has gotten me through online learning with my 11-year-old son — or rather, the promise of it, as in “If you do this homework on time, you will get a cheesesteak from Little Market.” No other entreaties (“You will have to repeat year 6”, “You will be an 18-year-old elementary school student”, “You will never be able to leave the house”) have ever had as much power or impact on him as the possibility of an entire melted-cheese-on-grilled-beef hoagie all to himself. So, thank you, Little Market, for almost singlehandedly getting my son into junior high school.

I know it’s hard to reach beyond your comfort zone, especially with vaccines still scarce on the ground and the city in semi-lockdown. When times become challenging, people often fall back onto tried-and-true comfort choices. If that means Mama noodles from the convenience store or Pizza Company or a simple fried egg on rice, you do you. But if you do get the urge to take your tastebuds on a flavor trip (all the better since it’s hard to go on trips ourselves), reach out to your fave food purveyors (UPDATE: unless they’re in a mall :-(). You can even sate your curiosity about something new by contacting the businesses above. Just by eating, you can help out our F&B industry (and in the process, the overall economy). What could be simpler than that?

And if you desire taking a more active role in helping the Bangkok restaurant scene, contact Food for Fighters, which is always searching for people who can contribute food, packaging, money and/or their own time and energy to feed people on the frontlines of the pandemic.