There’s something magical about the combination of rich duck meat and Thai red curry! This duck curry recipe features duck breast with golden skin served in a coconut red curry sauce. Add lychees or pineapples for a very special dish that’s to die for!
Thai red duck curry
* THAT IS NOT A PRAWN/SHRIMP in the photo! It’s the hole in a lychee where the seed was removed! 😂 *
Thai red duck curry
I recently enjoyed a beautiful Thai red duck curry at one of my favourite Thai restaurants here in Sydney, Khao Pla in Chatswood, and it inspired me to make my own. The rich flavour of duck meat, with the red curry sauce, the burst of sweet juice from the lychees and freshness from the herbs is one of those eating experiences that I hope everyone tries at least once in their life!
Plus, as much as I love my reliable Chicken Red Curry, duck is special. I’ve always thought of it as a luxury item and I love that duck meat is more readily accessible at grocery store these days. While it is more expensive than chicken, making Duck Curry at home costs, by rough calculations, around 70% cheaper than at a nice Thai restaurant where small bowl can fetch upwards of $30.
Thai red duck curry
Crispy skin duck breast
Crispy skin duck breast
Ingredients in Thai Red Duck Curry
Here’s what you need to make duck curry. This recipe calls for 3 duck breasts totalling 500g/1 lb which makes enough curry to serve 4 to 5 people.
1. Duck breast
I’ve eaten and seen duck curry recipes made with all sorts of cuts – whole duck, Marylands (thigh and bone) and breast. Some recipe start with a cooked Chinese BBQ duck while others use a confit method, and some steam/roast/then fry the duck.
I’ve opted for duck breast – easy to cook, relatively easy to get and because I like biting into the rich tender slices of duck smothered in the curry sauce.
Where to find duck breast – These days in Australia it’s fairly common at large grocery stores as well as fresh produce stores and butchers. Look for skin on boneless breast. It costs more than chicken (~$18 for 500g / 1 lb), but it’s special! A luxury product reserved for Thai royalty! (So I’m told by a Thai chef who helped out at RTM a couple of weeks ago 😊)
See FAQ for other duck cuts I have seen used, and why I didn’t opt for them for this recipe.
2. Lychees or pineapples!
To me, lychees are extra special because the season is so fleeting and I love how the pearly white balls look against the red curry. However, I would never hesitate to use pineapple instead – preferably fresh, else canned.
And – tip for you – Asian branded lychees are actually very, very good! I was taken by surprise.
3. thai red curry sauce
You can use homemade red curry paste or store bought, which is what I’ve opted for. If using homemade, you will need a little extra fish sauce (because store bought is well seasoned already).
Red curry paste – It’s pretty well document on this website: Maesri is my preferred! Cheapest and most authentic flavour of brands you can find at (most) grocery stores without digging in the dark corners of Asian stores. I also like that one can(115g / 1/2 cup) is the perfect amount to make a curry using 1 can of coconut milk.
Find it at large grocery stores here in Australia (Coles, Woolies, Harris Farms) and in Asian stores (it’s a staple item).
Best Thai red curry paste Maesri
Garlic and ginger – Adding these gives the store bought curry paste a freshness boost to make it more like homemade red curry paste. It really makes a difference! (Note: ordinarily I use lemongrass but I didn’t feel it added much in duck curry because duck meat is richer in flavour than chicken. So I ended up taking it out of the ingredients.)
Coconut milk – Not all coconut milk is created equal! Good ones are made with 85%+ coconut so have better flavour. Economical ones are diluted with water. Ayam is my default (89% coconut). Full fat please! Low fat is thinner and has less coconut flavour.
Makrut lime leaves – For authentic Thai curry flavour! Imparts a special earthy/herby fresh lime flavour into sauces. Fairly accessible these days at large grocery stores and Asian stores. They freeze 100% perfectly which is handy. (Note: formerly known as kaffir lime leaves. The name has been changed due to racial associations.) See FAQ for uses for leftover lime leaves. Can’t find fresh? Still worth making with dried! Though it is worth making a bit of effort to find fresh.
Fish sauce – This is used as the salt in red curry. More flavour than plain salt!
Sugar – For the right touch of sweetness you find in red curry sauce.
4. herbs and beans
Thai basil is the classic herb used for Thai cooking, but you can substitute with regular basil. The beans can also be substituted with other vegetables – I chose it for colour and shape.
Red chilli – For optional garnish. Use large ones for less heat and small Birds Eye or Thai Chillis if you are a spice monster (or claim you are).
Thai basil – A classic fresh herb used in Thai cooking, it tastes like regular basil with a slightly stronger aniseed and slightly minty flavour. Nowadays it’s fairly widely available in Australia in large grocery stores and green grocers (Coles, Woolies, Harris Farms), but much better value in Asian stores! Substitute with regular basil (I have done so and it’s still company worthy).
Coriander/cilantro – For garnish, Not vital!
Green beans – I chose this as I thought the green colour would look nice in the red sauce. Snake beans (Asian long beans) are also on point, though actually, you can use any vegetable you want that you think will work with red curry sauce. Cherry tomatoes seems common but I feel like with lychees, it’s a lot of same-same shiny balls floating in one dish!
Thai red duck curry
I like to serve duck curry with some of the golden skin above the sauce line, rather than tossing the duck pieces through the curry which makes the skin more soggy.
How to make Thai Red Duck Curry
This duck curry recipe is actually very straightforward and has a nice workflow to it. Once you start cooking, you can have it on the table in 30 minutes:
Duck breast – pan seared to render the fat and crisp the skin (10 minutes), finished in the oven (8 minutes) then rested (5 minutes) before slicing.
Red curry sauce – prep the ingredients while the duck is in the pan (it’s hands off), then start the sauce and have it simmering while the duck is in the oven.
Serve – the sauce and duck should be ready around the same time, ready to plate up and serve!
1. cooking the duck breast
Both duck and chicken are poultry, but duck is structurally different. Because of this, duck breast cooked to medium rare is like a beautiful steak – tender, rich and juicy. On the other hand, we would never eat chicken breast medium rare. Chewy! Rubbery!
Note: full duck breast cooking explanations got lengthy, so I moved it to a separate post. I figure it will be handy for future use! See How to Cook Duck Breast.
Slash skin – Use a sharp knife to make 5 to 6 diagonal slashes across the skin of the duck, taking care not to cut into the pink flesh. Don’t cut from edge-to-edge, you want the skin to stay in one piece but just make slashes in the middle.
Then pat the skin dry with paper towels and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
COLD pan with NO OIL – Don’t turn the stove on yet. Place the duck skin side down in an unheated oven-proof pan without any oil. The pan can be cast iron, non-stick, or a regular pan.
Weigh down for flat skin – Place another pan on top of the duck to weigh it down, not a cast iron one though, it’s a little too heavy. This is to prevent the skin from curling and wrinkling.
Cook on low 10 minutes – Now you can turn the stove on! Low if it’s a strong stove, or medium low if it’s a weak burner. The more slowly you cook the duck, the more fat you will render out which means crispier skin. It’s low maintenance too, because it’s low heat.
