Ezard's Red Duck Curry with Lychees - My 50th Post...Yaay!

Well, it's my 50th post, so I thought I'd celebrate with my favourite food by my favourite Melbourne chef, Teage Ezard. One of my first posts here was my attempt at re-creating Geoff Lindsay's Roast Red Duck Curry, even though someone had ripped the actual red curry paste recipe out of the library book. This time, I've found a similar recipe in Ezard's lastest book Lotus - Asian Flavours. The method for cooking the duck in this one is quite different as it's steamed and then deep fried.
Unfortunately, I won't be giving you the recipe here, because you'll have to buy the book for that, but check out the method and if you like the look of the final product, you might like to try it yourself.

First you'll need to dry roast your spices - coriander, cumin, star anise, nutmeg and white peppercorns. Once roasted, you'll need to bash them up in a mortar and pestle and coat your duck meat in the spices. You then need to steam the duck pieces until cooked.

Once the duck has been steamed, you'll need to deep fry the duck until the skin has gone nice and crispy.

You then need to make your Red Curry Paste by bashing up all your ingredients in a Mortar and Pestle, which includes things like chillies, garlic, ginger, galangal, coriander roots, etc.


You then need to fry your paste in a wok for about 10 mins, until its fragrant... you'll be able to tell when it's ready because it smells AMAZING!

Mix in coconut cream and your duck and simmer for a few mins until the duck has heated through. Then you can mix your Lychees through and check the curry for seasoning, adding lime or fish sauce if needed. Now all that's left to do is plate up your masterpiece and enjoy the fantastic zingy flavours that bounce around your mouth like golf balls at a driving range!
The curry is a bit spicy, but the sweetness of the Lychees balances this out beautifully. This is almost exactly like the Red Duck Curry we had when were in Sydney at Papaya in Cremorne .