Arroz de Pato originates from Braga in northern Portugal, with local tradition tracing its roots back to the Seminário de Braga around the 16th century.
Ingredients for 5-6 servings:
- 2 kg duck
- 500-600 gr (100 gr per person) Arroz Agulha (long-grained Portuguese rice) or Arroz Carolino (short-grained rice), you can replace this Portuguese rice with risotto rice
- 1/2 chouriço sausage (100-120 gr)
- 2 onions (1 for the broth, 1 for the rice)
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 leek
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 garlic bulb cut in half
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 chicken stock cubes (optional)
- 3-4 cloves
- 4-5 black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt to taste
Preparation instructions:
- Make the brown broth:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put the duck and vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, leek, garlic) on a baking tray, drizzle lightly with oil, and roast for 40–50 minutes until deeply browned.
- Transfer everything to a large pot. Pour a little hot water onto the roasting tray and scrape up all the browned bits; add this to the pot.
- Add chouriço, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, and 1.5 litres cold water (+ 100 ml extra for evaporation) to the pot. Let it simmer for 45 minutes. Skim off foam and excess fat occasionally.
- After 45 minutes, remove the duck and chouriço from the pot and place them on a plate to cool down. Remove all the duck meat from the bones and set aside.
- Return the bones to the pot and keep cooking for another 60-90 minutes. Strain and let the broth cool down.
- Prepare the rice:
- Pour a generous dash of olive oil into a frying pan and fry the chopped onion and garlic until translucent, then add the rice. Fry the rice until it is slightly translucent.
- Add the stock to the pan (3 times the amount of rice) and scrape the rice from the bottom while stirring. Add salt if needed and bring to the boil. The cooking time depends on the rice you use, 15-20 minutes is usually enough. Please, make sure the rice is not quite done yet (a little al dente).
- Assemble the dish:
- Sear the duck breasts for 6–7 minutes over low-medium heat, skin-side down + another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Set the breasts aside and wrap in aluminium foil to let them cool down slowly.
- Place half of the rice in a baking dish, put the shredded duck meat and chouriço on top, and add the remaining rice to cover the meat. Garnish the dish with carrots.
- Cook in the oven 5-7 minutes until the top is golden.
- Add the duck breasts cut in nice pieces on top and serve the Arroz de Pato with some cilantro.
