*Thai red duck and pumpkin curry

from Cook Book: 187 Recipes That Will Make You Incredibly Popular by Matt Preston (p215)

red curry paste
coconut milk
duck breasts
palm sugar
fish sauce
canned lychees
kaffir lime leaves (I substituted lime leaves)
Thai basil
pumpkin (I used butternut)
limes
long red chillies

I de-Westernised this dish:

I increased the “hot” by adding more chilli to the sauce (about 7 chillies) also giving the sauce more “red” colour,
I increased the “Sour” by adding an extra lime plus the zest of the the lime, and
I increased the “Sweet” by doubling the lychees.

I departed from the recipe, in that I wanted to leave the skin on the duck (as most red curry duck recipes do). I scored the duck breasts and placed them skin side down in a cold frypan and turned on the induction to 2, and slowly harvested the fat off over about an hour.

The harvested duck fat, reserved for future use, most likely potatoes cooked in duck fat … @mattscravat.

During this time removing as much sinu as possible and removing the fat as it rendered, so as not to cook the duck in fat. I didn’t use the “fish weight” as this could have cooked the duck breast in the heat transfer.

I then turned the heat up and crisped the skin

Let the breasts cool and then thinly slice. (It is easier to cut with the skin side down).

With the duck fat that was left in the pan, I fried the cream part of the coconut milk until it separated, and then added the curry paste and fried until the oil and paste separated, and there was a lovely aroma.

When the pumpkin was just tender, I added the sliced duck breast and lychees and turned the heat up to simmer, and then turned off the heat. (A lot less than the 15 plus minutes in the recipe).

Garnished with Thai basil leaves, more sliced red chilli, and a drizzle of coconut milk (other than adding extra colour, this did not add to the dish)