Thai Style Red Duck Curry with Pineapple Recipe by Madam Kopi Oh

Thai cuisine is a very tasty and unique cuisine. It combines many different flavors and somehow still manage to create a harmonious balance in terms of flavors in the dish. This is a simple recipe to preparing and cooking a good meal of Thai style red duck curry. This dish is both sweet and spicy and enriched with coconut milk.

This dish should comfortably serve 4 to 6 persons.

Ingredients for the red curry paste:

• 15 dried long red chillies
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons shrimp paste
• 5 red Asian shallots, chopped
• 10 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 lemongrass stems, white part only, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon chopped galangal
• 2 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro) root
• 1 teaspoon finely grated makrut (kaffir lime) zest
• 1 tablespoon of Sinolin cooking oil
• 8 spring onions (scallions), sliced on the diagonal into 3 cm (1¼ in) lengths
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 Chinese roast duck, chopped into large pieces
• 400 ml (14 fl oz) coconut milk
• 450 g (1 lb) tinned pineapple pieces in syrup, drained
• 3 makrut (kaffir lime) leaves
• 3 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint

Cooking instructions:

1. Begin my boiling the chilies for around 5 minutes until they become soft. Remove the stem and seeds and then finely chop the chilies up. Add some Sinolin cooking oil into a frying pan, and then using medium heat, fry the pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and shrimp paste for 2 to 3 minutes until this mixture gives ou a strong flavor.
2. Crush the peppers, coriander and cumin to a powder. Alternatively, you can use powdered forms of these spices which are readily available in any store or market.
3. Now, we will want to use a food processor to blend the chopped chilies, shrimp paste and spices with the remaining curry paste.  Process until the mixture becomes a smooth, consistent paste.
4. Heat up the wok with high heat. Add some Sinolin cooking oil into the wok and create a smooth balanced coating that covers most of the wok. While the wok is at a high temperature, add in the onions, garlic, and a few tablespoons of red curry paste. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
5. Now we will add in the roast duck pieces into the wok. Stir for 30 seconds. Add in coconut milk, pineapple pieces, makrut leaves, coriander and mint. Bring to boil and turn down the heat to medium low setting. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Garnish the dish with some coriander and mint leaves and serve.