If you’re looking for a dish to impress, this one’s got it all – the rich, soft flesh of the of duck, sweetness of the rambutans, warmth from the red curry and smoothness with coconut. Cooked for 2 hours until the flesh melts in your mouth, deep, complex flavours develop and elevate this classic thai curry into something truly gourmet that will knock people’s socks off ( maybe more!).  Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility!  The best thing is, once you’ve got your red curry paste made, it’s pretty smooth sailing, giving you plenty of time to shmooze, chat and seduce as your little pot of magic slowly bubbles away on the stove. 

 Red Curry of Duck in Coconut Milk with Rambutans

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of peanut, coconut or neutral vegetable oil
• 4 pieces of duck Maryland ,or about 6 duck legs skin off, about 800g in total
• 3 tablespoons of red curry paste
• 1 tin of longans or rambutans in syrup
• 1 375 or 400ml tin of coconut milk
• 6 kaffir lime leaves ( optional)
• syrup from the tinned fruit or 2 or 3 teaspoons of palm sugar
• about 3 decent squirts of fish sauce, probably about 1 tablespoon.
• A few sprigs of thai basil (optional)
• Jasmine rice to serve

Method

• Heat a medium to large saucepan and add the oil, then the curry paste, frying it for a few minutes until it becomes fragrant
• Add in the duck and fry until it is browned all over, then add in the coconut milk, fish sauce and palm sugar. If you’re using the syrup from the tinned fruit, pour this into the coconut milk tin to rinse it out and then put in the pot, other wise use water to do this.
• Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat until it is only just bubbling and cook for about an hour. You can leave the lid on if you like, just reduce the heat way down if you’re doing this
• Add rambutans/longans and kaffir lime leaves. Taste and adjust with fish sauce for salt and palm sugar for sweet. Also, if the liquid has reduced, top this up with water.
• Continue cooking for about another hour or until the flesh on the bones becomes really soft and is falling off
• Adjust with fish sauce and palm sugar if needed. Garnish with Thai basil and serve with freshly cooked jasmine rice