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Photograph of Thai Red Curry with Duck, Lychees, Sweet Basil and Coriander Served with Jasmine Rice

Thai Red Curry with Duck, Lychees, Sweet Basil and Coriander Served with Jasmine Rice

A rich and creamy Thai red coconut curry with slow cooked duck, sweet lychees, loaded with sweet basil and coriander and served with delicately aromatic Jasmine rice. Serves 3 - 4

Course Dinner, Lunch, Supper
Cuisine Thai
Keyword duck, lychees
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the curry:

  • ½ tablespoon coconut oil
  • 30g/2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
  • 1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
  • 15g/1 tablespoon palm sugar
  • 1½ tablespoons fish sauce
  • 350g – 400g slow cooked duck, ideally Chinese duck, in small slices (See Recipe Notes on options)
  • 8 lychees, halved (See Recipe Notes)
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves
  • 20g Thai sweet basil leaves, OR (See Recipe Notes)
  • 15g sweet basil leaves
  • 5g chopped coriander

To serve:

  • Jasmine rice
  • chopped coriander
  • sliced red chilli

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and add the red curry paste. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring regularly, until aromatic.

  2. Add the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer.

  3. Add the fish sauce, palm sugar and kaffir lime leaves and stir well to mix. Cook for 5 – 6 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

  4. Add the duck and lychees and continue to cook until everything is piping hot.

  5. Remove the kaffir lime leaves and stir in the fresh herbs.

  6. Serve immediately with steamed or coconut Jasmine rice, garnished with coriander and sliced red chilli.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

  • Cast iron casserole/Dutch oven/frying pan/saucepan or wok
  • Chopping board and knife
  • Kitchen scales and measuring spoons

Duck

This classical curry is normally made with Chinese roast duck but I made it with the duck I had left over from my slow roast duck. The key is to use melt in the mouth, fall apart, slow cooked duck. There is no where near as much meat on a duck than a chicken of an equivalent size, so lots of leftovers are rare. My roast duck weighed 2.25kg. We had eaten two portions with our roast meal and had just under 400g to use in this curry. However:

  • If you want to slow roast a duck specifically to make this dish, please see here for details.
  • Alternatively, if you have some duck leftover, but not quite enough, consider adding courgette and red pepper/capsicum to the curry. 
  • Add small wedges of courgette at point 3 and cook for 5-6 minutes before adding the duck
  • Add thinly sliced red pepper/capsicum to the curry with the duck and lychees or pineapple at point 4. 

Lychees

I used tinned lychees; I couldn't get find fresh locally. They work really well but if you prefer, this recipe is also delicious with fresh pineapple instead.

However, if you can find fresh lychees, remember that lychees do not continue to ripen after picking; so choose a firm, mature fruit, with a deep red skin colour and those without a split skin.

Herbs

You can use Thai basil in this curry but I rather like a combination of sweet basil and coriander, for a change.