Serves 4 – 6
Ingredients
4-6 boneless duck breast fillets (780g)
250ml coconut cream
250ml coconut milk
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp finely chopped palm sugar
530g canned lychees in natural juice, drained (1 can)
5 kaffir lime leaves
1 cup (90g) Thai basil leaves
40g fried shallots
2 small red Thai chillies (serrano) sliced
Red Curry Paste
10-12 dried chillies
180ml boiling water (to make the paste smooth, don’t have to use all)
5 white peppercorns
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
2 shallots roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
2cm piece ginger roughly chopped
1 lemongrass stalk sliced thinly
3 coriander roots chopped
1 tsp shrimp paste (belachan)
1 tsp finely grated fresh lime rind
Method
Curry Paste
- Add the hot water to dried chillies in a bowl until soft
- Dry fry peppercorns and ground spices in frying pan stirring until you start to smell it.
- Blend chillies and spices with the rest of ingredients until it forms a paste. (Add water bit by bit if required to form a smooth paste)
Duck
- Preheat oven to 200C.
- Pat dry duck breasts, score skin in a crisscross pattern.
- Season the duck with salt and pepper.
- Place duck breasts, skin side down in pan on low heat, using no oil for 3-4 minutes until fat has rendered
- Turn duck and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until browned and sealed.
- Take the duck off and put in an oven to cook further for 6-8 mins
- Drain on paper towel and let it cool and rest for 5 minutes.
- Cut duck crossways into thick slices
- Add the red curry paste into a hot wok; stir-fry until oil separates and mixture is fragrant.
- Stir in the rest of the coconut cream, coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar.
- Bring to boil
- Reduce heat, add lychees and roughly torn lime leaves, simmer 5 minutes
- Add basil.
- Serve curry with coriander and lychees
(Image credit: Aaron Rebeiro @ www.reynardandvixen.com)