|
400g roasted duck breast, cut in
bite-sized pieces
2 cups (450ml) coconut milk
½ cup red curry paste
4 cherry tomatoes
300g canned lychee, drained
2 tablespoons fish sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoon sugar
5 kaffir lime leaves (limau purut),
shredded
1 red chili, sliced and deseeded
125g sweet Thai sweet basil leaves (horapha)
For red curry paste ingredients:
½ tablespoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon shrimp paste (belachan)
5 dried red chilies
2 shallots
6 cloves garlic
1-inch piece of galangal (lengkuas)
1 stalk lemongrass
1 teaspoon minced kaffir lime (limau
purut)
1 stalk cilantro leaves (coriander)
10 peppercorns
|
|
Method:
Heat half of the coconut milk (1 cup
over low heat. When it starts to thicken, add the red curry
paste and stir constantly to prevent the mixture from sticking to the
pan. As the oil separates, include the duck meat and mix well.
Add the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, salt and sugar and simmer
for 5 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes, lychees, kaffir lime
leaves, and red chili and bring to a boil again. Put in the
sweet basil leaves just before serving, submerging them to prevent
them from discoloring.
Method to make red curry paste:
Take the white stem of the lemongrass
and discard the leaves. Trim off the root end and slice the
white stem into rounds. Soak the dried red chilies in hot water
for 10 minutes and discard the seeds. Blend all the ingredients
together in a food processor. Add water a little at a time and
grind until a smooth paste is obtained. This red curry paste can
be frozen and used as required.
The most common Thai curry is red curry.
Red curry paste is a blend of dry red chili, shallot, garlic,
galangal, lemongrass, cilantro root, peppercorn, coriander, salt,
shrimp paste and the zest of kaffir lime. It is different from
green curry paste, which uses fresh green chili. Both are
available in bottles from Asian stores.
|