Thai Duck Curry

In Thailand red curry is often made with duck, and it works so well – the rich fattiness of the duck pairs surprisingly well with the equally rich but creamy coconut milk, the bite of chilli, the exotic fragrance of lemon grass and galangal. It is easiest to cook the duck separately, and this means you can prepare the sauce in advance which makes it great for a dinner party at which you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen immediately before serving the meal. It pays to use the best quality duck you can find, and the scoring of the duck is very important as it releases a lot of the fat so it doesn’t end up in the curry. The curry often includes pineapple, although we omit this – feel free to add if you like it. This goes perfectly with some plain steamed Jasmine rice.

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Ingredients

Duck breast fillets (1 per person)
4 banana shallots, finely chopped
2 sticks lemongrass, halved and bruised
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red chillies, thinly sliced
a few Kaffir lime leaves
4tsp Spice Mountain Thai curry blend
6 baby aubergines (the very small ones available in Asian shops, or 1 regular, diced, if you can't find them), quartered
2 tins coconut milk

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Method

1

First make the sauce. Fry the banana shallots, the garlic and the chilli till softened, then add the aubergine and the spices. Keep frying for another few minutes until the aroma assails your senses, then add the coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it bubble away until the coconut milk thickens and begins to separate, about 30-40 mins.

2

At this point leave the sauce to one side, until you are ready to prepare your duck. Score each fillet deeply on the skin side, then season with salt. Heat a non-stick frying pan to quite a high heat, then lay down the duck, being very careful as it will spatter and spit – wearing an apron is highly recommended!

3

Fry the duck, turning frequently, until it is brown on both sides, and the fat has mainly run off – about 10 minutes. Remove the duck from the pan and rest for a minute or two, before slicing each fillet along the lines you scored it with before frying.

4

Now add the duck slices to the sauce, and cook for 10 minutes on a gentle heat to let the flavours combine. Garnish with chopped coriander and some more finely sliced chilli, and serve with Jasmine rice.

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