Quick and easy

“A popular Thai dish consisting of red curry paste cooked in coconut milk and added with meat; such as chicken, beef, pork, duck or shrimp, or vegetarian protein source such as tofu.”

Thai food has always played a part in my life since young, I’ve also been inspired to make red curry because of my parents who have recently relocated to Bangkok. In 2014, I backpacked across Thailand’s mainland and a few of it’s islands and this summer i’ll be going back for another holiday and cannot wait to eat all it’s fresh foods and fruits they have to offer.

You will need:

Making the paste through a blender:

1 shallot or 4 small purple onions
2 lemongrass
8-10 fresh red chillies (or more, it depends of your personal preference)
2 garlic cloves
2 galangal
4 kaffir leaves
2 tablespoon belachan
1 tablespoon coriander seed
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Bunch of coriander with root
1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoon chilli powder
40-50ml of water

Curry:

1 whole duck
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tin of coconut milk
1 chicken stock cube
2 tablespoon of palm sugar
1 tin of rambutan or bunch of fresh rambutan fruit/ or lychee fruit
Garnish with bunch of basil leaves

Thoroughly blend the ingredients into a smooth paste, gradually add a little bit of water to allow the paste to easily mix rather than it getting stuck at the bottom of the blender. Preheat your wok in oil on medium to high heat and cook the paste till fragrant, before adding the coconut milk. Season with a chicken stock cube, fish sauce and a little bit of water, lower the heat and leave the curry sauce to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the pre-bought duck (I got mine from China town), or you can pan fry skin side down to allow the skin to crisp. Lastly, add the rambutan fruits into the curry with basil leaves. Served with mixed brown and red rice and stir fried kale with pre-bought (from China town) roast pork and pine nuts, seasoned with white pepper and oyster sauce.