This delicious and simple slightly deconstructed Thai duck curry is full of the taste of Thai food cuisine.

A Duck Curry!

This duck curry is not the first here, I have a fun Indian play on a chicken tikka masala made with duck breast too.

Both of these recipes share one thing in common, the desire to keep the duck pink.

I achieve that in this recipe by not cooking the duck in the curry sauce. That also helps play around with a very modern and different presentation for a curry.

That to me makes it a rather fancy show-off dish for a date night.

Whilst I love to embrace the bowl of comforting curry on occasions, both this recipe and my fancy fish curry show that it does not have to be that way!

Don’t worry though, it is not all “fur coat and no knickers” this dish is packed to the gunnels with classic Thai curry flavours.

The Pineapple provides the perfect sweet and sour edge to the meal.

And guess what, this whole thing takes less than 30 minutes… I’ll not tell your date if you don’t!

A Guide to the Ingredients.

Let’s kick off with talking about the Thai Red Curry Paste. I make my own and there is a clicky link to take you to my recipe.

It is a relatively westernised version offering substitutions for galangal and kaffir lime. But still requires a little shopping around if you are based in the UK or US.

However, there are lots of great store-bought options out there, my favourites are Maesri and Lobo. I use these when making quick store cupboard curries like my Thai prawn curry.

The other ingredient of note is the Thai Basil. Depending on where you live it can be difficult to find.

If you are struggling you can add a little mint (25%) to regular basil and get relatively close.

Recipe Hints and Serving Suggestions.

As you can see I like my duck pink.

The very best way to work out how your duck is cooked is to measure it with a meat thermometer.

Place your meat thermometer into the thickest part of the duck breast and take the reading. These are the temperatures you are looking for after resting.

Rare: 57°C

Medium: 62°C

Well Done: 67°C

If you want to cook more than medium transfer the duck breast to the oven after flipping and cook at 180°C or 350°F. This helps prevents overcooking the outer flesh.

I like this served with Jasmine rice, but it would also be wonderful with a noodle salad.

And if you have leftover pineapple may I suggest using it in my sticky pork belly recipe?