The Classics: Hong Thaimee Makes Laab

The Southeast Asian minced pork salad known as laab varies greatly by region and cook, and so when developing a recipe for this classic dish to accompany Naomi Duguid's story in our 150th issue, we needed a Thai cooking expert to show us how it's done. We paid a visit to chef Hong Thaimee at her restaurant Ngam here in New York City, where the the Chaing Mai-born chef (and former model) taught us her mother's recipe for northeast Thai laab enriched with finely sliced pork liver and heart and dressed with chiles, fresh herbs, and roasted rice powder.