Ped Toon Nam Ma-Kham = Stewed Duck in Tamarind Sauce

by Katie Chin, Tastemaker in Residence

My friend Simon is a fellow food blogger who created the blog Rice & Sticks.  Simon has a passion for Asian cuisine and traveling and it comes through with flying colors in his gorgeous photography and sumptuous recipes.  Simon took private culinary classes in royal Thai cuisine at the Blue Elephant restaurant in Bangkok.  He believes cooking is a learning process that never ends, “Like “mam” my culinary teacher taught me, It’s all about putting our hearts into what we do. Good food has to be simple, quick and made from scratch.”  Simon generously offered to share his Stewed Duck in Tamarind Sauce with us today.  Woot Woot!

Here’s Simon:

Hi everyone, this is Simon from Rice & Sticks (@RiceAndSticks). I appreciate this opportunity to be guest posting for, The Sweet and Sour chronicles. I’m sharing with you a lovely, simple duck dish called Ped Toon Nam Ma-Kham, which translates to Stewed duck with tamarind sauce.  This dish is not that famous in western Thai restaurants but is worth making at home as an alternative to the regular green curry or Pad Thai. If duck happens to be too expensive, a great substitute is boneless chicken thighs. Using canned tamarind pulp is fine, but make sure to choose a brand containing only tamarind pulp and water. Singha beer and steamed Chinese bread or jasmine rice work best as an accompaniment. Time to bring your family one step closer to heaven.

Ingredients

250 grams/8 oz boneless duck meat (cut into bite size pieces across the fibers)
5-6 pieces of dried Chinese mushrooms soaked in water until soft (optional)
120 grams/4 oz chestnuts (optional)
Spice Paste
6 coriander roots
6 cloves garlic
2 tsp white pepper
2 pieces of star anise
2 x 1 in/2.5cm cinnamon stick
Sauce Ingredients
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 Tbsp tamarind pulp
3 Tbsp palm sugar
1 Tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark sweet soy or Indonesian kecap manis
2 cups/4 dl chicken stock
2 tsp of honey

Instructions

1. In a mortar: Pound garlic, coriander root, white pepper, star anise and cinnamon sticks together to a fine paste.
2. On medium-high heat in a saucepan: Stir-fry the paste in vegetable oil until aromatic. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. In a separate container: Pass the stock base through a sieve. Return the stock to the saucepan and bring back to a boil. Add fish sauce, honey, palm sugar, soy sauce, dark soy and tamarind pulp.
3. Add in the duck meat, dried mushrooms, and chestnuts. Lower the heat and allow simmering for 20 minutes or until gravy thickens.