Gaeng Phed Ped Yang (Thai Duck Red Curry)
Roast duck simmered in a rich red curry with pineapple, cherry tomatoes and lychees — built the traditional way by cracking the coconut cream until it splits and turns fragrant.
Ingredients
Pantry bits
- 2 x 400ml tins coconut milk (cream separated, not shaken)
- 4 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1/2 Chinese roast duck, sliced
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 6 lychees, halved (fresh or tinned)
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp palm sugar
- 4 kaffir lime leaves, torn
- 2 long red chillies, sliced
- Thai basil leaves, to serve
Instructions
- Scoop the thick cream from the top of the tins of coconut milk (the part that hasn't mixed with the watery liquid below) into a dry wok or pot.
- Simmer the cream over medium heat, without stirring too much, until it starts to bubble and the oil visibly separates and rises to the surface — this takes 5–8 minutes and the cream will look glossy and slightly caramelised.
- Add the curry paste directly into the split coconut oil and fry for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until deeply fragrant and the paste darkens slightly.
- Pour in the remaining coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Add fish sauce, palm sugar and kaffir lime leaves, stirring to dissolve.
- Add pineapple and simmer for 5 minutes to soften slightly.
- Add roast duck, cherry tomatoes and lychees, and simmer for a further 5 minutes until warmed through.
- Scatter with sliced chilli and Thai basil, and serve with steamed rice.
About this dish
This is the curry behind the recent obsession with 'splitting' coconut milk — and once you've tasted the difference, you'll understand why. Instead of tipping a whole tin of coconut milk straight into the pot, the thick cream is simmered on its own first, left undisturbed until the oil separates and rises to the surface. Frying the curry paste directly in that fragrant coconut oil is what gives real Thai curry its deep, roasted flavour rather than a flat, one-note sweetness.
Gaeng Phed Ped Yang pairs that technique with roast duck, sweet pineapple, juicy cherry tomatoes and lychee for a curry that's rich, sweet, sour and spicy all at once — a genuine restaurant showstopper that's surprisingly simple once the coconut cream technique clicks.
Use a good-quality Chinese-style roast duck from your local butcher or Asian grocer to keep this weeknight-friendly, or a home-roasted duck if you have the time.
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