Thai Red Duck Curry
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
-
Slash duck skin, season. Cold pan, no oil, 10 min medium low (weigh down duck) until golden. Reserve 3 tbsp fat. Finish in oven 8 min (target 60°C/140°F, medium), rest. Sauté curry paste in duck fat with garlic and ginger, add stock, reduce by half, add coconut, fish sauce, sugar, lime leaves, simmer 2 min. Add beans, simmer 3 min, add lychees or pineapple, simmer 2 min. Slice duck, serve!
FULL RECIPE:
Crispy golden duck breast:
-
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced).
-
Score – Sprinkle half the salt and pepper on the flesh of the duck. Turn. Use a sharp knife to make 5 or 6 diagonal scores on the skin of the breast. Don’t pierce the flesh and don’t cut all the way to the edge of the skin (Note 8). Pat the skin dry with paper towels, sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper.
-
Cold pan, no oil – Don’t turn the stove on yet. Use an oven-proof pan (any type). Place the duck skin side down in the cold pan, no oil required. Place another pan on top to lightly weigh the duck down (keeps skin flat).
-
Cook 10 minutes – Turn the stove onto medium low. Cook for 10 minutes or until the skin is golden and crispy. Fat will melt out of the duck skin and it will cook in its own fat. (Note 8)
-
Reserve duck fat – Pour off 2 to 3 tablespoons of the duck fat into the pan you will use to make the curry sauce.
-
Oven 8 minutes – Once the skin is crispy, turn and cook the flesh side for 1 minute. Then transfer the pan to the oven for 8 minutes or until the internal temperature is 60°C/140°F (medium, Note 9)
-
Rest – Transfer to a rack or plate and rest for 5 minutes until ready to assemble the curry.
Thai red curry sauce:
-
Sauté curry paste – Heat the duck fat (from step 6 above) on medium heat in a deep skillet. Cook the curry paste, garlic and ginger for 4 to 5 minutes. It will dry out and darken in colour, and substantially improves the flavour (especially store bought, but even homemade).
-
Sauce – Add chicken stock, stir, then simmer rapidly to reduce by half (2 -3 minutes). Stir in coconut milk, hand-crushed kaffir lime leaves, sugar and fish sauce. Simmer gently on medium for 2 minutes.
-
Add ins – Add the beans, simmer for 3 minutes until just cooked. Add the lychees or pineapple, simmer 1 minute. Taste and add a tad extra fish sauce if it needs salt.
Assemble:
-
Spoon some sauce in to cover the base of a large deep platter or wide bowl.
-
Slice duck breast, just shy of 5mm / 0.2″ thick. Place on the sauce, fanning it out slightly to expose the pink flesh.
-
Remaining sauce – Spoon the remaining sauce, lychees etc around the duck, avoiding the duck skin.
-
Garnish with Thai basil leaves, coriander, chilli and lime wedges.
-
Serve – Take to the table with flourish and serve with jasmine rice!
Recipe based on my Thai Red Curry recipe, inspired by Khao Pla’s Duck Curry and the Thai Red Duck Curry with Lychees in Tony Tan’s beautiful new cookbook Tony Tan’s Asian Cooking Class.1. Duck breast – Fairly readily available at large grocery stores these days, plus butchers. Also see How To Cook Duck Breast for more detailed information on the why of the duck breast cooking method.I use 3 breasts because 2 is not quite enough meat for the volume of sauce which makes a quantity based on a neat 1 can of coconut milk and 1 can of Maesri curry paste (Note 2).
2. Curry paste – My position on the best store bought Thai red curry is fairly well documented on this website! Maesri is the best – there is just no question, at least, for readily available ones. Find it at Woolies, Harris Farms, Asian stores and online (Australia). (Overseas – Amazon and Asian stores).
3. Grating – Use a microplane or similar to grate it finely so it mixes in really well with the curry paste. Spruces up store bought paste to make it taste like homemade.
4. Coconut milk – Not all coconut milk is created equal! Good ones are made with 85%+ coconut so have better flavour. Economical ones are diluted with water. Ayam is my default (89% coconut). Full fat please! Low fat is thinner and has less coconut flavour.
5. Makrut lime leaves (see in post for former name) – fairly accessible these days at large grocery stores and Asian stores. They freeze 100% perfectly. See FAQ for uses for leftover lime leaves (I have a fair few!) If you can’t find fresh, still worth making with dried (though please try to get fresh, it imparts special flavour into the sauce!)
6. Thai Basil has a slight aniseed flavour. Signature herb for Thai red curry so try not to skip it. Italian basil can be used as a very respectable substitute – I often do!
7. Canned lychees and pineapples are perfectly acceptable if you get a good brand. Asian canned lychees are quite good, in my opinion.
8. Duck tips – Slashing skin lets fat render out for better crispy skin. Avoid cutting the flesh – if you do, juice will come out and the skin won’t be fully crisp. Don’t slash skin all the way to the edge, keep it in one piece (see photos in post). If your duck has a really thick layer of fat (some American breeds do), score diagonally – extra slashes = more fat comes out.
Cooking on low heat = more fat renders out = crispier skin + less fat in end dish (too much duck fat can be rubbery and too fatty). So don’t rush this step!
9. Duck doneness – Medium is my preferred for curry, light blushing pink, tender and juicy. You can go as low as medium rare (think – steak!) – internal temperature X. Don’t fret if you go over – duck breast is still great even fully cooked at X.
Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Freezes ok! 3 months, thaw, then gently reheat.
Best way to make ahead (intentionally) – Keep duck breast whole, fully cool, put in containers. Make sauce but do NOT put lychees or basil in. Cool, container. Fridge for both. Day of, pull out of fridge, slice due. Warm sauce, add lychees, simmer 1 min. Stir duck slices in, let them warm up gently, stir in basil leaves. SERVE! Doesn’t look the same as in photos as slices are stirred in and skin is not exposed, but all the flavour is there. Some might argue this is even better because every duck slice is coated in sauce. 🙂 In fact, most restaurants serve it this way.
Leftovers keeps for 3 days in the fridge, or freezer for 3 months. It doesn’t bother me at all if the duck skin is sauced up. In fact, the sauce protects the meat from drying out. Heat gently so the duck doesn’t get massively overcooked.
Nutrition assuming 5 servings – calculating now! Calculated making a conservative allowance of 5 tablespoons of duck fat that ends up in the finished dish (ie the fat poured off a used for cooking plus fat remaining under skin). Excludes rice.
Nutrition Information:
Calories:435cal (22%)Carbohydrates:9g (3%)Protein:22g (44%)Fat:35g (54%)Saturated Fat:21g (131%)Polyunsaturated Fat:3gMonounsaturated Fat:9gCholesterol:90mg (30%)Sodium:558mg (24%)Potassium:497mg (14%)Fiber:1g (4%)Sugar:6g (7%)Vitamin A:3717IU (74%)Vitamin C:21mg (25%)Calcium:55mg (6%)Iron:8mg (44%)
