Duck and Wild Mushrooms in a Thai Red Curry

I first cooked this dish in Brussels when I was planning on cooking the chicken and bamboo shoot recipe in Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible from memory. Popping in to my local Carfour supermarket however, I found some superb duck breasts and wild mushrooms on sale. Hence this variation was born. Feel free to revert to using chicken if you can't get any decent duck breasts though.

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Ingredients

• 1 x 400ml (14 fl oz) can of full fat coconut milk left untouched for at least 3 hours. This will cause the cream to float to the top.
• 2 tbsp peanut (a.k.a. groundnut) oil
• 5 tbsp Red Curry Paste (if you don't make your own buy a good quality Thai brand)
  
• 450g duck (or chicken) breasts cut into thin slices.
  
• 1 250-300g pack of wild mushrooms (if you can't get wild use normal field mushrooms)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
• 1 tsp lemon juice (Use fresh lemons to get the juice. Do not use that abomination you can find in a bottle or plastic lemon thingy.)
  
• 1 tsp of palm sugar (or if you can't get it, use any granulated sugar)
• 4 fresh Kafir Lime Leaves or 1 tsp julienned lemon rind (if you use the rind, remember to buy unwaxed lemons)
• 15-20 fresh basil leaves chopped after removing the central stalk.
  

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Preparation

• Very carefully open the tin of coconut milk, trying not to disturb the cream which will have formed on top.
• Take out 4 tbsp of the cream and store in a bowl, stir the rest of the milk and put to one side.
• Heat the oil over a medium heat in a wok or wide non-stick pan.
• When hot add the coconut cream and curry paste and stir fry for about 4 minutes or until the oil starts to separate and the paste is lightly browned.
• Reduce the heat to low and add the duck (or chicken) fish sauce, lemon juice, sugar and the reserved milk.
• Stir and bring to a simmer.
• Cook over a low heat for around 15 minutes.
• Add the Mushrooms.
• Optional steps, if you're in a flat in Brussels.
• Realise you've forgotten the Basil and head off to get some from the supermarket.
• Then discover that the second key to the flat has been left in the door and that you're thus locked out as your key will now not open the door.
• Find someone who speaks French and call a locksmith telling them that the flat will burn to the ground if they can't get around quickly enough.
• Suffer their sarcastic comments and glances, on seeing the contents of your wok is barely bubbling and unlikely in the extreme to come to the boil, let alone burn the house down.
  
• Pay the locksmith 80 Euros and bid him au revoir.
  
• By this time the duck will be cooked to perfection.
  
• Continue to cook until the chicken / duck is cooked through.
• Add the Basil and serve.
  

Cooks Tip: Thai food is a marriage of hot, sweet, and sour flavors. Here the curry paste adds the heat, the sugar the sweet and the lemon the sour. Before serving, taste the food and adjust to balance these elements. If it's too sour add some more sugar, if it's too sweet add some more lemon juice.

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