Mixed game Thai red curry

Most people think that Asian flavours will not work with game but that’s not true; most notably mallard, goose and pheasant all fit this flavour profile well. It’s also worth remembering that pheasants originated in Asia, so the Asian flavours work well. My recipe here uses pheasant and mallard breast in a Thai red sauce. Don’t throw away the legs, either; they will be used in another recipe to come.

Mixed Game Thai red curry

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 150g green beans, cut in half
• Olive oil
• 2 pheasant breasts, skinless large dice
• 2 mallard breasts, skinless large dice
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 sticks of lemongrass, finely sliced
• 30g galanga, grated
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 3 tsp curry paste
• 3 pieces stem ginger, small dice
• 1 red pepper, large dice
• 1 green pepper, large dice
• 500ml chicken stock
• 250g cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 can of straw mushrooms, cut in half

Method

1. Take the green beans and blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, then refresh in cold water, drain and keep to one side.
2. Add oil to a large saucepan and heat to smoking hot. Season the meat and fry off just to seal but not cook. Remove the meat from the pan once sealed and turn down the heat.
3. Add some more olive oil if needed and sweat off the onions, garlic, lemongrass, galanga and chilli. After 5 minutes, add the curry paste, ginger, red and green peppers then cook for another 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the meat and cook for a further 6 minutes. Then add the green beans, tomatoes and mushrooms. Cook for a further 6 minutes, just to warm them through.
5. Serve with jasmine rice or flatbread, and enjoy.

More thoughts on this game Thai curry recipe

When cooking with game, there are two trains of thought: classical and modern. For many people, the recipes of old are the ones that they keep going back to. Some work really well but most don’t, the reason being that these recipes were written in a time when most ingredients were hard to come by. Salt, pepper and sugar cost an arm and a leg, so recipes at this time were simple and worked with ingredients that had a fuller flavour, such as hung game instead of fresh, mutton instead of lamb and older boarish pork instead of young pigs.

We also need to remember that the game of then was different to the game of today. We understand the structure of game better than before. We have a treasure trove of ingredients from around the world, as well as from the UK, that we can include in our recipes to enhance and improve the flavours of our game. The product itself is far superior to the product of old in quality, its handling and our understanding of how to get the best of it.

Whether you like it hung or not, our tastes have come a long way since the old days and most people prefer fresh birds with their delicate flavour rather than a well-hung bird and the strong flavour that hanging gives it. Nowadays, we have other ways to make our game even more delicious. (Read our tips on freezing game here.)