Thai Red Duck Curry

There’s thing magical astir the operation of affluent duck nutrient and Thai reddish curry! This duck curry look features duck bosom with aureate tegument served successful a coconut reddish curry sauce. Add lychees oregon pineapples for a precise peculiar crockery that’s to dice for!

* THAT IS NOT A PRAWN/SHRIMP successful the photo! It’s the spread successful a lychee wherever the effect was removed! 😂 *

Thai reddish duck curry

I precocious enjoyed a beauteous Thai reddish duck curry astatine 1 of my favourite Thai restaurants present successful Sydney, Khao Pla successful Chatswood, and it inspired maine to marque my own. The affluent flavour of duck meat, with the reddish curry sauce, the burst of saccharine foodstuff from the lychees and freshness from the herbs is 1 of those eating experiences that I anticipation everyone tries astatine slightest erstwhile successful their life!

Plus, arsenic overmuch arsenic I emotion my reliable Chicken Red Curry, duck is special. I’ve ever thought of it arsenic a luxury point and I emotion that duck nutrient is much readily accessible astatine market store these days. While it is much costly than chicken, making Duck Curry astatine location costs, by unsmooth calculations, astir 70% cheaper than astatine a bully Thai edifice wherever tiny vessel tin fetch upwards of $30.

Ingredients successful Thai Red Duck Curry

Here’s what you request to marque duck curry. This look calls for 3 duck breasts totalling 500g/1 lb which makes capable curry to service 4 to 5 people.

1. Duck breast

I’ve eaten and seen duck curry recipes made with each sorts of cuts – full duck, Marylands (thigh and bone) and breast. Some look commencement with a cooked Chinese BBQ duck portion others usage a confit method, and immoderate steam/roast/then fry the duck.

I’ve opted for duck bosom – casual to cook, comparatively casual to get and due to the fact that I similar biting into the affluent tender slices of duck smothered successful the curry sauce.

Where to find duck breast – These days successful Australia it’s reasonably communal astatine ample market stores arsenic good arsenic caller nutrient stores and butchers. Look for tegument connected boneless breast. It costs much than chickenhearted (~$18 for 500g / 1 lb), but it’s special! A luxury merchandise reserved for Thai royalty! (So I’m told by a Thai cook who helped retired astatine RTM a mates of weeks agone 😊)

See FAQ for different duck cuts I person seen used, and wherefore I didn’t opt for them for this recipe.

2. Lychees oregon pineapples!

To me, lychees are other peculiar due to the fact that the play is truthful fleeting and I emotion however the pearly achromatic balls look against the reddish curry. However, I would ne'er hesitate to usage pineapple alternatively – preferably fresh, other canned.

And – extremity for you – Asian branded lychees are really very, precise good! I was taken by surprise.

3. thai reddish curry sauce

You tin usage homemade reddish curry paste oregon store bought, which is what I’ve opted for. If utilizing homemade, you volition request a small other food condiment (because store bought is good seasoned already).

• Red curry paste – It’s beauteous good papers connected this website: Maesri is my preferred! Cheapest and astir authentic flavour of brands you tin find astatine (most) market stores without digging successful the acheronian corners of Asian stores. I besides similar that 1 can(115g / 1/2 cup) is the cleanable magnitude to marque a curry utilizing 1 tin of coconut milk.

  Find it astatine ample market stores present successful Australia (Coles, Woolies, Harris Farms) and successful Asian stores (it’s a staple item).

• Garlic and ginger – Adding these gives the store bought curry paste a freshness boost to marque it much like homemade reddish curry paste. It truly makes a difference! (Note: ordinarily I usage lemongrass but I didn’t consciousness it added overmuch successful duck curry due to the fact that duck nutrient is richer successful flavour than chicken. So I ended up taking it retired of the ingredients.)

• Coconut beverage – Not each coconut beverage is created equal! Good ones are made with 85%+ coconut truthful person amended flavour. Economical ones are diluted with water. Ayam is my default (89% coconut). Full abdominous please! Low abdominous is thinner and has little coconut flavour.

• Makrut lime leaves – For authentic Thai curry flavour! Imparts a peculiar earthy/herby caller lime flavour into sauces. Fairly accessible these days astatine ample market stores and Asian stores. They frost 100% perfectly which is handy. (Note: formerly known arsenic kaffir lime leaves. The sanction has been changed owed to radical associations.) See FAQ for uses for leftover lime leaves. Can’t find fresh? Still worthy making with dried! Though it is worthy making a spot of effort to find fresh.

• Fish condiment – This is utilized arsenic the brackish successful reddish curry. More flavour than plain salt!

• Sugar – For the close interaction of sweetness you find successful reddish curry sauce.

4. herbs and beans

Thai basil is the classical herb utilized for Thai cooking, but you tin substitute with regular basil. The beans tin besides beryllium substituted with different vegetables – I chose it for colour and shape.

• Red chilli – For optional garnish. Use ample ones for little vigor and tiny Birds Eye oregon Thai Chillis if you are a spice monster (or assertion you are).

• Thai basil – A classical caller herb utilized successful Thai cooking, it tastes similar regular basil with a somewhat stronger aniseed and somewhat minty flavour. Nowadays it’s reasonably wide disposable successful Australia successful ample market stores and greenish grocers (Coles, Woolies, Harris Farms), but overmuch amended worth successful Asian stores! Substitute with regular basil (I person done truthful and it’s inactive institution worthy).

• Coriander/cilantro – For garnish, Not vital!

• Green beans – I chose this arsenic I thought the greenish colour would look bully successful the reddish sauce. Snake beans (Asian agelong beans) are besides connected point, though actually, you tin usage immoderate rootlike you privation that you deliberation volition enactment with reddish curry sauce. Cherry tomatoes seems communal but I consciousness similar with lychees, it’s a batch of same-same shiny balls floating successful 1 dish!

I similar to service duck curry with immoderate of the aureate tegument supra the condiment line, alternatively than tossing the duck pieces done the curry which makes the tegument much soggy.

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How to marque Thai Red Duck Curry

This duck curry look is really precise straightforward and has a bully workflow to it. Once you commencement cooking, you tin person it connected the array successful 30 minutes:

1. Duck breast – cookware seared to render the abdominous and crisp the tegument (10 minutes), finished successful the oven (8 minutes) past rested (5 minutes) earlier slicing.

2. Red curry sauce – prep the ingredients portion the duck is successful the cookware (it’s hands off), past commencement the condiment and person it simmering portion the duck is successful the oven.

3. Serve – the condiment and duck should beryllium acceptable astir the aforesaid time, acceptable to sheet up and serve!

1. cooking the duck breast

Both duck and chickenhearted are poultry, but duck is structurally different. Because of this, duck bosom cooked to mean uncommon is similar a beautiful steak – tender, affluent and juicy. On the different hand, we would ne'er devour chickenhearted bosom mean rare. Chewy! Rubbery!

Note: afloat duck bosom cooking explanations got lengthy, truthful I moved it to a abstracted post. I fig it volition beryllium useful for aboriginal use! See How to Cook Duck Breast.

1. Slash tegument – Use a crisp weapon to marque 5 to 6 diagonal slashes crossed the tegument of the duck, taking attraction not to chopped into the pinkish flesh. Don’t chopped from edge-to-edge, you privation the tegument to enactment successful 1 portion but conscionable marque slashes successful the middle.

   Then pat the tegument adust with insubstantial towels and sprinkle brackish and capsicum connected some sides.

2. COLD cookware with NO OIL – Don’t crook the stove connected yet. Place the duck tegument broadside down successful an unheated oven-proof cookware without immoderate oil. The cookware tin beryllium formed iron, non-stick, oregon a regular pan.

3. Weigh down for level tegument – Place different cookware connected apical of the duck to measurement it down, not a formed robust 1 though, it’s a small excessively heavy. This is to forestall the tegument from curling and wrinkling.

4. Cook connected debased 10 minutes – Now you tin crook the stove on! Low if it’s a beardown stove, oregon mean debased if it’s a anemic burner. The much dilatory you navigator the duck, the much abdominous you volition render retired which means crispier skin. It’s debased attraction too, due to the fact that it’s debased heat.

5. Fat starts to render – After a fewer minutes, instrumentality a peek and you’ll spot abdominous has started to melt retired of the duck.

6. So overmuch duck fat! At astir the 5 to 7 infinitesimal mark, the full cookware volition beryllium covered successful duck fat.

   Keep the cookware value on until astir the 7 infinitesimal people erstwhile the tegument has started to spell aureate and has “set”. While it is inactive soft, it tin inactive wrinkle/curl = rubbery patches = 😭

7. Golden crispy skin! Keep cooking until the tegument due to the fact that aureate and crispy, astir the 10 infinitesimal mark, oregon longer. You tin crook the vigor up towards the end, erstwhile there’s tons of abdominous successful the pan.

8. Finish successful oven – When the tegument is golden, crook and navigator the soma broadside for conscionable 1 infinitesimal to seal. Then transportation the cookware to astatine 180°C/350°F oven (160°C fan-forced) and roast for 8 minutes oregon until the interior somesthesia is 60°C/140°F which is mean ie. airy blush of pink. For mean uncommon (deep pink, similar steak), purpose for 54°C/130°F (6 minutes).

   Don’t interest if you spell over, duck bosom is large adjacent afloat cooked to 68°C/154.4°F (ie nary pinkish astatine all, similar chickenhearted breast). Think – Chinese BBQ duck. Fully cooked, and delicious!

9. Rest – Then spot the duck connected a rack acceptable implicit a plate, oregon conscionable a plate, and permission it uncovered to remainder for astatine slightest 5 minutes portion you decorativeness the sauce.

10. Slice the duck bosom conscionable shy of 5mm / 0.2″ thick. Do this conscionable earlier placing it successful the curry sauce. It tin remainder for good beyond 5 minutes due to the fact that the soma warms up erstwhile placed successful the blistery sauce.

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2. reddish curry sauce

The cardinal measurement present is to navigator disconnected the curry paste, whether utilizing homemade oregon store bought. It makes a monolithic quality to amended flavour. If you conscionable disturbance it into liquid, the flavour is truthful unimpressive!

1. Cook disconnected curry paste – Sauté the curry paste with the ginger and ail for 4 to 5 minutes implicit mean heat. The curry paste volition beryllium rather bedewed astatine archetypal but volition adust retired and deepen successful colour which improves the flavour of the curry sauce.

2. Sauce – Add the chickenhearted banal archetypal and simmer to trim by half. Then adhd the coconut milk, food sauce, sweetener and lime leaves (crush successful hands to merchandise flavour). Stir to harvester past simmer for 2 minutes.

3. Green beans (or different veg) – Add the beans and simmer for 3 minutes until they are conscionable astir tender. (If utilizing different vegetables, adhd them successful based connected the navigator time).

4. Lychees oregon pineapples – Then disturbance the lychees oregon pineapple successful and simmer for conscionable 1 infinitesimal conscionable to lukewarm it though alternatively than navigator it until soft. And conscionable earlier serving, disturbance the Thai Basil leaves successful (it wilts rapidly and, similar regular basil, darkens successful colour with prolonged vulnerability to heat).

5. Plating up – Though we’re not aiming for ace crispy duck tegument successful this dish, I inactive similar to service it with astir of the tegument supra the condiment enactment due to the fact that it gets little soggy than stirring it though. Visual intent arsenic well.

   So I enactment a spot of condiment successful the basal of a serving vessel past laic the duck bosom connected top, fanning the slices retired somewhat to exposure the beauteous pinkish flesh. Then I spoon the remainder of the curry sauce, lychees etc astir the duck breast. Or, I mildly spot the sliced duck into the cookware with the condiment successful it, arsenic pictured below.

6. Garnishes and serve! As with galore South East Asian dishes, garnishes not lone adhd beauteous colour but besides other flavour! Extra Thai basil, coriander/cilantro and slices of reddish chilli.

Look astatine it. It’s truthful beautiful! A riot of colour, the unmissable pearly balls for lychees, the aureate duck tegument peeking retired supra the reddish coconut curry sauce, and the hint of pinkish soma connected amusement which screams “I’m truthful tender and juicy, nary adust duck here!!”.

Take it to the array with pridefulness on with jasmine rice that you steamed earlier (despite a definite nutrient blogger not including that acquisition arsenic measurement 1). Gesture grandly* and basal backmost for a infinitesimal to springiness your assemblage clip to praise and lavish you with exclamations of appreciation earlier graciously allowing radical to excavation in! – Nagi x

* If you are much mature than me, you tin skip this part.

PS See FAQ beneath for suggested sides to implicit a Thai menu!

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Watch however to marque it

Life of Dozer

Dozer and I are doing a fundraiser astatine the section vet infirmary this Sunday! It is astatine SASH successful Ryde (Small Animal Speciality Hospital), and it is the vet that saved Dozer’s life this clip past year.

SASH reached retired to inquire if I’d assistance rise wealth for Sophie’s Legacy, a foundation that aims to trim termination among veterinarians. It’s 4x the nationalist average, among the highest termination rates of each professions. I was shocked and saddened speechmaking astir it and the causes of it – deficiency of manufacture intelligence wellness support, lawsuit abuse, overworked, understaffed and radical who conscionable springiness a damn truthful overmuch who spot and bash much things than you oregon I could ever imagine. Like – putting down steadfast dogs due to the fact that the proprietor cannot spend a genu country (this is simply a pugnacious one), oregon is moving distant and cannot beryllium “bothered” to re-home their pet, oregon going connected a agelong travel and doesn’t privation to wage for boarding.

Yes, this happens. And I’m told that legally, a vet has to bash arsenic asked by the proprietor due to the fact that pets are the spot of the owner.

Dozer is busting unfastened his piggy slope to donation lucifer up to our extremity of raising $20,000 for Sophie’s Legacy, donated straight to the charity oregon raised astatine the publication signing lawsuit this weekend.

As you mightiness person guessed, Sophie’s Legacy is simply a foundation acceptable up by the parents of a young veterinarian who sadly took her ain life. Their extremity is to supply intelligence wellness enactment for vets to trim termination successful the profession.

Dozer and I are doing a publication signing this play wherever attendees are making a donation for each publication signed. Unfortunately, the lawsuit filled up excessively accelerated earlier I was capable to stock it present connected my website! However, determination is simply a waiting database (join it here), truthful I tin gauge numbers for alternate options.

If you cannot marque the lawsuit but would similar to donate you tin bash truthful here – and Sophie’s household and I convey you for your generosity. You tin besides sign the petition here to lobby the authorities for change.

Also, Dozer is donation matching – dollar for dollar, hoping to scope our extremity of $20,000 crossed some the SASH event and done the Sophie’s Legacy donation page. He is utilizing his beingness savings – astir 13 years! 🥰

Dedicated to Dr. Sophie Putland, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a beloved vet, who tragically took her ain beingness successful September 2021, and to each the fantastic dedicated vets of the satellite who bash truthful overmuch to attraction for our pets.

The station Thai Red Duck Curry appeared archetypal connected RecipeTin Eats.