Mekong style duck curry gives a rich, fragrant pot with tender duck and sweet, starchy sweet potato. The difficulty is clearing the smell of the duck and keeping the curry from splitting.
The coconut is pressed twice. The thin second pressing simmers the duck, while the thick first pressing goes in only at the end, so the curry is both aromatic and silky.
This batch weighs about 4.4kg, at roughly 208 calories per 100g.
Method
Clean the 1.5kg duck, remove the tail, rub it thoroughly with coarse salt mixed with ginger wine, rinse it, drain it and cut it into large pieces, as the meat shrinks during cooking.
Shred the coconut meat, pour over 300ml hot water at about 80 to 90 degrees C, steep for 1 minute and press out the thick coconut milk, then set it aside. Pour over another 400ml hot water and press a second time for the thin coconut milk that will simmer the duck.
Mince 3 shallots, 5 cloves garlic and the ginger. Bruise 4 stalks lemongrass, mince some of it and cut the rest into lengths. Mince 2 bird's eye chilies. Cut 250g onion into wedges. Roughly chop the cilantro. Peel 600g yellow sweet potato, cut it into pieces the size of the duck, soak in salted water for 2 to 3 minutes and rinse.
Put 1 tablespoon cooking oil and 2 tablespoons annatto oil in a pot and fry the shallot, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chili until fragrant, then add 1 teaspoon mild chili powder. Turn off the heat, stir in most of the 10g curry powder and add the duck.
Marinate the duck with 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, 1 teaspoon MSG, 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon seasoning powder and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, work it in by hand and leave for 30 minutes.
Fry the sweet potato briefly in a little oil until golden, lift it out and toss with 1/2 tablespoon seasoning powder and 1 teaspoon curry powder.
Set the pot of duck over medium heat and stir until the meat firms up. Pour in the thin coconut milk and 1 liter fresh coconut water to just cover. Once it boils, lower the heat, skim the foam, cover and cook for 35 to 40 minutes.
Once the duck is tender, add the sweet potato and cook another 10 to 15 minutes with as little stirring as possible. When the sweet potato is done, add the thick coconut milk and the onion.
Once it returns to a boil, season with 1 teaspoon seasoning salt, 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, 1/2 teaspoon MSG and 1 tablespoon fish sauce. Cook for another 20 seconds, turn off the heat, ladle into bowls and scatter over the cilantro.
Tips
The thick coconut milk goes in last, which keeps the curry both fragrant and silky.
A gentle flame protects the rich flavor of the coconut, and regular skimming keeps the liquid clear.
Take off the tail piece and rub the duck with coarse salt and ginger wine, since leaving it on gives the whole pot an off smell.
Duck pieces cut larger than the serving size allow for the shrinking that happens during simmering.
Sweet potato fried briefly and tossed in seasoning before it goes into the pot holds its shape.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.