You bring this to the table in the dish it baked in, still muttering: duck shredded into rice that has drunk the stock, a lid of chouriço crisped on top. A feast dish. Monday food, too, if you have a bird. A spoon through that sausage lid is one of the better moments in a Portuguese kitchen.
Arroz de pato is northern at heart — Braga claims it, Minho cooks it — but it has travelled the whole country as Sunday rice. The duck gives the stock; Carolino rice drinks it; the sausage on top is smoke and a crust.
Shred the meat off the bone. Cook the rice shy of done, then bake until the chouriço crisps. Don't pack it down; the rice needs a little air.
Method
- 01
Put the duck in a pot with the onion, bay leaf, and white wine, cover with water, and simmer until the meat leaves the bone — about an hour, perhaps more. Lift out the bird, strain the stock, and skim off the fat; you want a clear, duck-scented liquor. Shred the meat off the bone, discarding skin if it is flabby. Keep the meat moist under a little of the stock.
- 02
Measure the skimmed stock and bring it to a simmer. Stir in the Carolino rice and cook until it is just shy of done — still a little chalky at the center, the grains plump but not bursting; it will finish in the oven. Season with salt, pepper, and a strip of orange zest if you have it. The rice should taste of duck already.
- 03
Fold the shredded duck and some of the sliced chouriço into the rice, together with a handful of parsley. Turn the mixture into a gratin dish and cover the top with the remaining chouriço, overlapping the slices so they make a lid. Don't pack it down; the rice needs a little air. It should come to the table in the dish it bakes in.
- 04
Bake at 400°F until the chouriço on top has crisped and the edges of the rice have taken a little color, about 20 minutes. You should hear it muttering when you take it from the oven. Rest 5 minutes, then serve from the dish. A spoon through the sausage lid into the duck rice is one of the better moments in a Portuguese kitchen.
