Duck in Coconut Sauce; Thai style

Duck with Thai Coconut Sauce

Simple yet fresh with very fragrant flavours, this is a comfort food. 
You can prepare each part in your kitchen or even buy ready-to-eat smoked duck breast. 
Using egg noodles is my favourite, but any kind of noodles, rice vermicelli, or even pasta could work well. The clean, light flavours of the sauce should leave your palate pleased!

Will serve 4 to 6 

Preparing the Duck

Wash and score four duck breasts. Make sure only the fat is scored and not the actual meat. 
Rub in some salt, gently massaging it in.

You may roast, grill, or sear the duck breasts in the following ways: 

Roasting 

Preheat the oven to 170C|350F. Roast it for 30 minutes with the fat-side up, until the skin is a golden brown. Testing it with a wooden skewer ensures the duck is cooked. 

Grilling

If grilling, cook duck fat-side down for 10 minutes on a medium flame, and then turn it around for another 7 minutes. 

Searing

If searing in a pan, no oil is necessary. Heat the pan and sear fat-side down for 10 minutes on a medium flame, and then on the other side for another 7 minutes. 

For any of the methods, after cooking it, remove it and allow it to rest for 10 minutes, sliced and added to the sauce to infuse for 4 hours and up to 48 hours.

Coconut Sauce

In a pan bring to a boil

2 cups chicken stock

400ml/ 14 oz coconut milk

4 lemon grass stalks, crushed with the back of a knife

1 tsp galangal or fresh ginger root, cut

4 stalks coriander root

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 Thai red chilli bird, finely chopped
6 leaves Thai basil, purple or green, torn apart. 
Add the infusion at the end. 4 kaffir lime leaves, dry or fresh

This is best served with egg noodles ( or any noodles) that have been cooked as per instructions. Drain the water, and pour all the coconut sauce over it. Submerge all the noodles properly, allowing the sliced duck to sit over them. For 20 minutes, cover and infuse. Reheat gently and serve.

Tips

While the sauce is meant to be thin, the starch from the noodles will help thicken it. 
If you prefer it to "coat the back of your spoon," mix until smooth 2 tsp of cornstarch in a bowl with tap water and add it to the sauce. Allow it to boil for a minute and it will be ready. 

The combination of the above ingredients is now available in boxes called Aromatic Thai Fragrant Spices. If using the prepared dry spices, add 4 tbsp to this quantity.  
However, you will still need to add fresh or dry Kaffir lime leaves and an inch of fresh ginger when you add the noodles to infuse for a perfect finish. 

While boiling the noodles, add a stalk of lemon grass, freshly grated lemon peel, salt, and oil. This gives the noodles a wonderful burst of flavour.

If you prefer to serve this with sticky coconut rice: you may need to thicken the sauce by boiling it further to reduce the liquid. 

Other noodles you may like to try are udon, soba, quinoa, or rice vermicelli. 

Adding 4 tbsp of Thai Nam Pla/fish sauce can make the flavour stronger.

My published cookbooks are available for sale through myself and on Amazon.

The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders is a 3 award winning book. It has been self published in July 2019 and will be going into its second print in 2022. 

The Art of Parsi Cooking; reviving an ancient cuisine was published in 2016 by Austin Macauley and continues to be available through amazon book depot book depository and from the publishers.

Readers Comments
2nd April 2017

Nerina Shroff Thanks Niloufer Mavalvala. Made this for dinner tonight. Turned out yum.