Thai cuisine · Meat & Kebab

Ped Pad Krapao

Wok-fried duck breast strips with holy basil, chili and garlic, cooked in the duck's own rendered fat.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 2 duck breasts (about 350 g each)
• 2 handfuls Thai basil (holy basil, or Thai basil)
• 8 cloves garlic
• 5 Thai chilies
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp palm sugar
• 1 red bell pepper
• 100 ml chicken stock
• 300 g jasmine rice

Instructions

1. Score the duck breasts in a diamond pattern on the skin side, place skin-down in a cold pan, and render over medium heat for 8 minutes until the skin is golden and crisp.
2. Flip the duck breasts, fry for 2 more minutes, remove, and let rest for 5 minutes; pour off the rendered fat, keeping 3 tbsp.
3. Coarsely pound the garlic and chilies in a mortar, cut the bell pepper into strips, and pick the basil leaves.
4. Slice the duck meat across the grain into thin 5 mm strips; heat the duck fat in a wok until very hot and fry the garlic-chili mixture for 20 seconds until fiercely fragrant.
5. Add the duck strips and bell pepper, fry over the highest heat for 2 minutes, then deglaze with oyster sauce, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, palm sugar and chicken stock and simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce turns glossy.
6. Fold in the basil leaves, remove from the heat immediately, and serve with jasmine rice while the duck skin is still crisp.