Warm duck, lychee and banana blossom salad
Prep 40 mins
Cook 5 mins (plus roasting duck)
Serves 6-8
Difficulty 4
“This dish is one of the first we created for Paste in Bangkok,” says Bee Satongun, who has since opened Paste in Mittagong too. “It reminds us of our early days and hard work of establishing the restaurant.The combination of Thai ingredients, such as banana flower (blossom), lychee, chilli and Thai herbs, produces refreshing lively flavours. The sauce is a matter of balancing soy, tamarind, palm sugar and lime juice. We serve this with warm roasted duck.”
1 banana blossom (see note)
2 spring onions (white part), thinly sliced
4 red shallots, thinly sliced on a mandolin
8 lychees (fresh or canned), halved
Handful of Vietnamese mint
Handful of coriander
¼ telegraph cucumber, cut into thin batons
2-4 small red chilles, finely chopped
3 tbsp julienne ginger, to garnish
Nigella seeds and blood lime (optional), to garnish
1 roasted duck (see note), meat sliced or shredded, to serve
Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
SALTY-SOUR DRESSING
60ml chicken stock
60ml light soy sauce (Healthy Boy brand)
100ml fish sauce
130g light palm sugar
90ml tamarind juice (see note)
60ml chicken stock
60ml light soy sauce (Healthy Boy brand)
90ml lime juice
1. To prepare the banana blossom you’ll need to work quickly, as they oxidise as soon as they are cut. Trim the base to make it easy to remove all the pink outer tough petals until you get to the pale tender centre, then remove the inner petals one by one and place them into acidulated water and discard the little stamens as you go. Make sure you remove any of the tough petals and stamens as they are very bitter. Once all the petals are removed and stamens discarded, thinly slice the petals and place them back into a bowl of iced and acidulated (water with a good squeeze of lemon or lime juice). If you notice the petals browning while you are working with them, rub them directly with lemon or lime juice. The prepared blossom can keep in the water refrigerated for half an hour to will help remove all bitterness. It may oxidise more over time. Drain well and pat dry before serving.
2. For the dressing, combine ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat (except lime juice) and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cool and stir through lime juice.
3. To serve, combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add banana blossom and dressing and toss to combine. Serve with warm roasted duck and steamed Jasmine rice to the side.
INGREDIENTS
METHOD
N O T E
You can use a Chinese-style barbecued duck here, or to roast your own duck; leave the duck uncovered in the fridge for 1-2 days to dry the skin, then roast at 190C for 1½ hours, for medium, or until cooked to your liking.
Recipe by Bee Satongun and image by Eatable.
