Thai Duck Salad Nam Tok Bpet

One evening I found duck breast fillets on sale at the store. I grabbed two pieces and turned them into a Thai salad I had been wanting to try for a long time: Nam Tok Bpet. It is a Thai salad made with grilled duck. I have already published Nam Tok recipes with other meats — here comes the duck version. It is a “Nam Tok Bpet” ( ).

Preparation

First, preheat the oven to 200°C (392°F) with fan. While it heats up, briefly rinse the duck breast fillets, pat dry, and score the fat side diagonally several times. Place the duck breast fillets fat side up in a roasting pan with a grill rack and drizzle with a little oil.

Once the oven has reached temperature, place the roasting pan on the middle rack and leave the duck in for twenty-five minutes. Meanwhile, peel the shallot and slice into thin rings. Cut the Thai chilies into thin rings as well. Pluck the mint leaves from their stalks and chop finely.

When the twenty-five minutes are up and the oven has a grill function, switch it on, move the roasting pan to the top rack, and grill the duck for another ten minutes. If the oven has no grill function, simply leave the duck in a little longer.

While waiting, squeeze the lime, mix the juice with the fish sauce, and dissolve the sugar in it. Distribute the shallot, chilies, and mint leaves in a flat salad bowl.

Remove the duck breast fillets from the oven and let them cool for about ten minutes. Meanwhile, peel the cucumber and slice it. Slice the cooled duck breast fillets into thin pieces.

Add the lukewarm meat slices to the salad bowl, pour the dressing over everything, and mix well. Sprinkle the salad with the toasted rice powder and chili powder.

Finally, garnish the Nam Tok Bpet with cucumber slices and serve lukewarm. Jasmine rice or — even better — sticky rice pairs well with it.