Thai basil can be hard to come by for us but they sometimes have it in our local farm shop which inspired us to cook this delicious duck dish by Neil Perry.
Wine Suggestion: A dry, but fruit forward Pinot Gris was our first thought, but tried the Domaine Bott-Geyl’s Pinot d’Aslace Points Cardinaux, which was to hand, and were delighted with it’s playful nature and depth to match the dish. A blend of all the Pinot grapes, including Pinot Noir this has a vibrant freshness and focus as well as roundness and layers of texture; altogether a good food wine.
Stir-fry duck with coconut milk, Thai basil & noodles – serves 4
- 600g boneless duck breasts, with skin on
- 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 stem of lemongrass, pale part only, thinly sliced
- 1 long red chilli, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 80ml vegetable oil
- 1 large white onion, halved and thickly sliced
- 320ml coconut milk
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 20g crispy fried shallots (shop bought)
- a large handful of Thai basil leaves
- 200g dried rice vermicelli or other rice noodles, cooked and drained (to serve)
Put the duck onto a board, skin side down, and cut into 5mm slices. Put the duck slices into a bowl and add the garlic, lemongrass and chilli. Mix well with your hands.
Heat 60ml of vegetable oil in a wok until smoking. Stir-fry the duck in batches for 1-2 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Add more oil if needed, then add the onion and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes or until light golden. Return the duck to the wok, then pour in the coconut milk and bring to thte boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the fish sauce, oyster sauce, tamarind paste, sugar and sea salt. Simmer for another few minutes, then check the seasoning.
Garnish with fried shallots and Thai basil and serve over noodles.
(Original recipe from Neil Perry’s Good Cooking, Murdoch Books, 2016.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 