Myanmar (Burmese) Duck Egg Curry

Myanmar Duck Egg Curry

Duck Egg Curry

Burmese Duck Egg Curry

Egg curry is a new idea for me, and it really surprised me that I hadn’t considered it before! I tend to bake more than I cook so always have eggs in the house. But often the eggs go passed their best as I struggle to use them up. The main reason I don’t do much cooking is because I don’t like to cook unless there is someone else to cook for. These days my partner is living away as he has gone to university as a mature student, so I find myself having dinner at my sister’s or my mum’s house. Cooking for one can be pretty dull since I tend to stick to a few one-pot recipes.

This Duck Egg Curry I tried for the first time on a recent trip to Myanmar has become my new ‘one pot curry’ recipe! It’s also a tasty way to use up all those left over eggs without having to break out the butter and sugar to bake a cheeky cake… Best served with fresh boiled rice and some stir fried greens!

This dish is commonly found in Myanmar and is a very popular lunch time meal as it is very cheap to make as well as being a quick meal to cook in the morning. I was only in Myanmar for a couple of weeks but learnt that there is still very much a culture of shopping in local wet-markets first thing in the morning. There are more supermarkets popping up in the cities but not many people have refrigerators and electricity is temperamental so it still isn’t practical to stockpile perishable foods.

There are very few ingredients in Duck Egg Curry so can be made from store-cupboard  ingredients if there is no time to visit the market in the morning before the working day starts. In Myanmar it is still the norm that women in the household do the shopping and cooking. As wages are low, it is common to see workers carrying metal tiffin lunch boxes to work in the morning, usually a layer of rice, some curry and some stir fried vegetables. When my colleagues brought out their lunches, I was always excited to see what they had prepared that day. It was so much more exciting than the standard English lunch of sandwiches!

Myanmar Egg Curry

*Recipe courtesy of Harmoneat

Ingredients:

• 6 Duck Eggs
• 3 Tomatoes, roughly chopped
• Shrimp Paste (can fish sauce instead or omit for a vegetarian version)
• Water
• 2 tbs Vegetable Oil
• Salt, to taste
• 1 Dried Red Chilli
• 6 Inches Ginger Root, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 Shallots, peeled and roughly chopped

Method:

• Soak the dried chilli in some warm water for 10 minutes to soften
• Boil the duck eggs for 5 minutes until hard boiled, once boiled peel the eggs and cut in half horizontally then set to one side
• Make the curry paste by pounding the re-hydrated chilli, garlic, ginger and shallots in a pestle and mortar until you get a smooth paste (use a blender if you want to be are short on time)
• In a deep sided frying pan (with a lid) stir fry the curry paste in the vegetable oil to release the fragrance of the spices, around 3 minutes
• Add the chopped tomatoes, shrimp paste, and a cup of water. Stir to combine and make a thick curry sauce
• Place all the egg halves face down into the sauce in one even layer and simmer for a few minutes, before turning all the eggs over so the yolks are facing upwards
• If the sauce is very thick, add some more water before putting the lid on the pan and simmering for 10-15 minutes. Add salt for seasoning

Duck Egg Curry

I have cooked this recipe using chicken eggs as a substitute very successfully, as duck eggs are a bit harder to come by back home in the UK! This dish is pretty healthy as not a huge amount of oil is used and the eggs yolks bring richness to the curry. It still tastes great without the shrimp paste for vegetarians; I once forgot to add it! 😉

Red Curry Paste

This red curry paste is a very simple recipe that forms the basis for ‘red’ curries in Myanmar. Make a big batch and keep a home made jar in the fridge sealed with a layer of oil for an fresh curry paste free from preservatives! 😀

For more recipes from Myanmar, check out Harmoneat’s website where you can find downloadable recipe cards. 😀

Braised Duck in Cucumber Cups

Braised Duck in Pickled Cucumber Cups

This is a canape version of the Duck with Hoi Sin Sauce in Pancakes often found in your local Chinese restaurant. Created as part of an ‘Asian Inspired’ Afternoon Tea. I’ve previously used a similar recipe for Braised Duck with Spring Onion Pancakes, it’s a healthier version of crispy roast duck as it does not involve deep frying. This canape version is a little fiddly but looks impressive.

Braised Duck in Cucumber Cups

Ingredients:

• 2 duck leg quarters
• 4 star anise
• 4 cloves
• 100 ml dark soy sauce
• 50 ml of Chinese rice wine
• 100 ml water
• 2 tbs five spice powder
• 2 tbs cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 4 inch piece of root ginger smashed up

• Large cucumber
• 100 ml rice wine vinegar
• 100 ml water
• 2 tsp sugar

• Hoi Sin sauce (to serve)
• Spring onions, julienne (to serve)

Braised Duck in Pickled Cucumber Cups

 Method:

• Duck: In  a large sauce pan, put all the ingredients for the duck together and bring to a slow boil. Simmer the duck legs for 10 minutes with the lid on the sauce pan and then leave to braise in the pan. The residual heat will finish off the cooking so don’t take off the lid! Once completely cooled, leave to one side until needed (Do it the day before and leave the whole pot in the fridge so the meat takes on even more of the lovely flavors)
• Cucumber: Peel the cucumber and cut into two inch cups. Scoop out most of the watery seeds in the middle but leave the bottom intact so the filling doesn’t fall through. Combine the vinegar, water and sugar in a large shallow dish and put the prepared cucumber cups in to pickle. Leave for up to 1 hour, but longer if you want it to be really sharp!
• To assemble:
  • Take the duck out of the braising liquid and shred the duck meat finely.
  • Pat the cucumber cups dry and assemble onto a serving dish.
  • Spread a thin layer of Hoi Sin Sauce in the bottom of each cucumber cup, then stuff a big pinch of duck into the cup.
  • Finish off with a small dollop of Hoi Sin sauce and the spring onions.

‘Asian Inspired’ Afternoon Tea

As mentioned above, I served these Braised Duck in Cucumber Cups as part of an ‘Asian Inspired’ Afternoon Tea where the traditional sandwiches were replaced with Asian style savory canapes. I also made ‘Smoke Salmon and Avocado Sushi’, ‘Thai Prawn Noodle Salad’ and ‘Chicken and Shitake Mushroom Potstickers’. Recipes to follow shortly! 🙂

When one recipe inspires another: Coconut Caramel Slice

Coconut and Salted Caramel Slice

 

Home baking has recently seen a revival. My friends, colleagues and family know all about my cake obsession, and I have held many an afternoon tea or baked an experimental cake to share in the office the next day. I had to stop when people complained that they were putting on weight from eating all my cakes! I bake less these days but still enjoy dabbling once in a while. ‘Afternoon tea’ is quintessentially British but now fashionable the world over. I recently had an ‘Asian Afternoon’ tea where finger sandwiches were replaced by a variety of sushi. A perfect example of Asian fusion cuisine!

An earlier experiment with banana gyoza resulted in having left over coconut caramel  that was a little sickly sweet so, I wanted to try it with a little sea salt to take the edge off the sweetness. A quick on-line search of ‘coconut caramel’ and the first recipe that came up was this one! Coconut caramel slice. I’ve adapted this recipe slightly by using the coconut caramel (with a couple of pinches of sea salt flakes added) and adding a drizzle of dark chocolate on top to introduce a contrast in tastes. I’ve also increased the amount of dessicated coconut in the top layer to 200 grams and added another egg. I found that the amount in the recipe was not enough to fully cover the ‘cake’, and I also wanted to use up what was left of packet before I started on another baking adventure ‘just to use up left overs’!

Looking at the recipe, I realised it was very similar to a coconut macaroon recipe I used when baking a gluten free treat to take to a friend’s house as a treat. This Coconut Slice recipe is a very simple recipe, similar to an Almond Slice. Except the ground almond is swapped for dessicated coconut and raspberry jam in the place of caramel. I made Almond Slices a few months ago and they turned out amazingly well for my first attempt. I really like tray bakes. They are simple to make and these layered recipes are always very pretty, looking like you have put more effort in than you really have!

At work we regularly hold bake sales to raise money for the charity I work for. I usually make cupcakes which go down well but I steer clear of eating them as I find the buttercream far too sweet. I think these Coconut caramel and Almond slices will be on the menu for the next bake sale. This way I can enjoy a little treat in the afternoon too!

 

Coconut and Salted Caramel Slice