Rich Thai Red Curry with Duck and Lychee Recipe

I love spicy food and anything and everything with curry. When I was in Phuket, I fell in love with this awesome red curry dish with Roasted Duck.   It was indeed, ‘Love at first Bite’. 

This recipe is inspired by the red curry I tasted before and it’s just so convenient when I have leftover roasted duck meat. Why waste it? Since I love combining flavors with fruits, I decided to give a little twist to this traditional Thai cuisine and turn it into a Malaysian-Chinese fusion dish by adding some sweet lychee. It might sound bizarre but trust me, it’s delicious and you won’t be able to get enough of it!

Ingredients:

a) Red Curry Paste:

• 8 dried red chillies, soaked in warm water and drained
• 1 fresh bird’s eye chilli, roughly chopped
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lemongrass, finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon of fresh galangal, finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon fresh coriander roots, chopped
• Grated rind of one lime
• 12 whole black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon of rock salt
• 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste

b) Other Ingredients:

• 400ml Coconut Milk
• 4 tablespoons of cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon palm sugar
• 2 Roasted Duck Drumstick
• 2 Roasted Duck Breast
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 2 long Thai eggplant cut into large chunks
• 8 okra, sliced to two per piece
• 3 fresh kaffir lime leaves, diced
• 1 fresh red chilli, sliced length-wise
• 1 can of lychee, drained
• 1/4 cup firmly packed fresh Thai basil leaves

Method:

1. To make the curry paste, place the cumin, coriander and peppercorns in a frying pan and dry fry over medium heat for 2 minutes or until fragrant.
2. Using pestle-and-mortar, crush the chillies, onion, lemongrass and galangal until it becomes a fine paste. Add in the garlic, coriander roots and lime rind, then the rest of dry ingredients and shrimp paste. Pound until very smooth.
3. Heat 4 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok over medium heat.
4. Add in the curry paste and let it cook, stirring continuously for 15 minutes until oil rises to the surface.
5. Add in the coconut milk, fish sauce and palm sugar. Bring it to a boil.
6. Reduce heat and let the broth simmer. Add in the roasted duck, tomatoes, eggplants, okra and lime leaves.
7. Simmer for 5 minutes then add in the lychee and sliced red chilli. Stir to combine.
8. Add in the Thai basil only after the curry is off the heat. This will keep the leaves from turning black.
9. Serve with steamed rice.

Take You To Thailand and Malaysia!

So, how do you like it? This dish has the best of both Thai and Malaysian flavours in one bowl. I think that the sweetness of the lychee nicely balances out the richness of the spice paste and gives you a refreshing aftertaste. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Any questions about this dish can be asked directly on my Instagram page, @justinescakesandkueh and do follow Butterkicap’sInstagram and Facebook pages for more recipe updates!