Duck breast with red curry-infused jasmine rice
This stunning dish is comprised of jasmine rice cooked in a homemade Thai red curry paste and coconut milk, so that the grains soak up all of that beautiful aromatic spice. Mixed with sweet diced mango, perfectly cooked marinated duck breast and crispy shallots, this is a dish to remember.
Ingredients
Duck breast
- 4 duck breasts
- 2 tbsp of Thai 7 spice seasoning
Crispy shallots
- 5 banana shallots , peeled and chopped into fine rounds
- 100ml of oil
Red curry paste
- 10 dried Thai red chillies , or 5 fresh bird's eye red chillies
- 5 banana shallots , peeled and roughly chopped
- 5 garlic cloves , peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 slice of makrut lime peel
- 2 lemongrass sticks , roughly chopped
- 1 knob of ginger , thumb-sized, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 bunch of coriander , small, leaves and stalks separated
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- freshly ground black pepper
To cook the rice
- 250g of jasmine rice
- 5 spring onions , white parts chopped into small rounds, green parts shredded
- 400ml of coconut milk
- 100ml of water
- 1 large mango , peeled and diced
Equipment
- Blender
Method
For the crispy shallots, pour the oil into a saucepan and place over a high heat. When the hot is oil (not smoking though) throw in the shallot rounds. They will bubble up immediately and the key here is to keep a close eye on proceedings. As they bubble, the water will evaporate and the bubbling will slowly begin to die down after about 8 minutes or so, when the shallots will begin to become golden and crisp. Don’t let them go too far, or they will burn. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and allow to drain and cool on kitchen paper. These can now be stored in an airtight container
Remove the duck breasts from the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature
Place the duck breasts skin-side down in a cold frying pan then place over a medium to high heat. This method helps to slowly render the fat out of the duck, crisping up the skin beautifully. After 5 minutes, flip the breasts and place in the oven to finish cooking – 10–12 minutes is good for medium, 15 minutes for well done. Once the duck breasts are ready, leave to rest in a warm spot for another 10 minutes
While the duck is cooking, prepare the rice by heating a wide saucepan or wok on the hob over a high heat. Add a generous splash of oil and then 4 tablespoons of the red curry paste. Or a bit more if you like things spicy. Less if you don’t. Stir briskly for a good couple of minutes, to cook the paste out
Add the rice and stir to toast for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk and 100ml of water and cover with a lid. Cook until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, then stir through the white parts of the spring onions. Remove from the heat and stir through the diced mango
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Duck breast with red curry-infused jasmine rice
