Duck Red Curry and Monday Morning Ramblings

I was meeting some friends for dim sum and since I do not usually find myself on that part of town, I was mentally coming up with a list of items I wanted to pick up at the Asian grocery store. I remember the grocery store in the shopping center has a Chinese barbecue section. Their roast ducks are pretty good. I decided to pick up a whole duck. It was a long wait. Apparently this must be the only place in town that sells Chinese roast meats. I also picked up a few other items that I needed around the house.

For this dish I am branching out from my usual chicken red curry. I'm replacing the boring chicken with duck. I looked at various duck curry recipes. They all seem to include pineapple and lychees. I am not too fond of pineapple in savory dishes. I bought some lychees but decided to leave that for snacking instead and make the curry my usual way.

Duck doesn't have very much meat. That is why I only order duck breast when I am at a restaurant. For this dish, I took the time to take all the meat off the bones. I kept the bones for making a stock. You can make this dish by roasting your own duck (a very timely project that involves scalding the duck, coating it with honey, blowing air in between the skin & fat, and air drying) or just purchasing one from your local Chinese barbecue joint.


1 roast duck
4 tablespoons red curry paste
1 can coconut milk
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 rose gold potatoes, washed and cubed
1 large white sweet potato, washed and cubed (The store posted a picture of white sweet potatoes. I didn't question it. When I got home and peeled the sweet potato, I discovered that the flesh was orange instead of white.)
1 can sliced bamboo
1 stalk lemon grass, cut into 3 inch sections
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 dried galanga root
salt
pepper
msg
1 disk palm sugar
fish sauce
basil
cilantro
green onions


1. Remove duck meat from bones. Cut the meat into small pieces. I use a pair of kitchen shears. Put reserved bones in a small pot and add enough water to cover. Simmer gently.

Bones ready to make stock:
Duck Meat:

2. Prep the other ingredients while the duck bones simmer. By the time you are done washing, chopping, and dicing, your stock should be ready. Take the stock and strain out the bones.
3. In a dutch oven on medium heat, toast the curry paste until fragrant. Add the cream portion of the coconut milk, reserving the liquid at the bottom. Cook the coconut cream and curry paste until thick.
4. Add garlic and onion. Add the duck stock and the rest of the ingredients except duck meat, cilantro, green onions, and basil . You don't want to cook the meat too long since it is already cooked.
5. When potatoes are tender, add duck meat. Garnish with cilantro, green onions, and basil.