The Most Incredible Tamarind Duck

• 2 duck breasts
• 200 g of sprouting broccoli
• 100 g or ½ a cupof jasmine rice
• 400 ml or 1 ¾ cups of chicken or beef stock
• 5 tsp of tamarind paste
• A thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 10 g or ¼ cup of holy basil
• ½ of a lemongrass stalk, bashed with a knife and chopped
• 1 red chilli, de-seeded and sliced
• 2 tsp of nam pla, Thai fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• A dash of sesame oil

Start with the rice Wash the rice in cold water a few times and drain off. Pour in fresh water to the cleaned rice in a ratio of 2:1.

1. 1

   Place on a medium heat and bring to the boil. Once the pan is on the boil, turn the heat down very low and place a lid over the rice. Cook the rice until it has absorbed all the water and set aside. # How to cook the perfect duck breast fillet Score the ducks through the skin making sure you do not cut the flesh. Rub salt into the skins.

2. 2

   Put a cold pan on the hob and place the duck breasts in skin side down. Turn on the heat to a very low setting.

3. 3

   Cook for 25 minutes keeping the ducks skin side down. Apply a little pressure to the breasts to ensure the skins keep contact with the pan and regularly baste the ducks and pour off the fat that accumulates.

4. 4

   After 25 minutes, remove the duck from the pan and pour out any remaining fat.

5. 5

   Return the pan to the hob and turn up the heat to medium high. When the pan starts to smoke, place the breast back in skin side down for 1 minute. Turn them over and cook for 2 minutes. Turn once more on the skin side down and fry for 1 final minute. Take the ducks out of the pan and rest them on a wooden board. # Make the tamarind sauce In the same pan, throw in the broccoli and stir fry for 2 minutes to brown.

6. 6

   Add the stock and the remaining ingredients reserving the sesame oil and some holy basil leaves for the garnish.

7. 7

   Keep the heat on a medium to medium high and simmer down the sauce for 5-6 minutes until it has thickened.

8. 8

   Slice the duck thinly and arrange it over the broccoli, pour over the sauce and garnish with sesame oil and a few holy basil leaves. Serve with the rice on the side.