Chilorio de pato by Adam Pawlak
Chilorio is a dish from Sinaloa in northern México, where it is usually made from pork, but sometimes, beef or chicken.
It is made in a similar way to home style carnitas (pulled pork) but then it is simmered in an ancho chilli sauce. Adam Pawlak, Head Chef at Taqueria, has created a delicious, richer version of this dish substituting duck for pork and using Cascabel chillies instead of Ancho chillies. Chilorio can be used as a filling for tacos and burritos or as a main dish served with white rice, black beans and guacamole.
Makes 12 small tacos or serves 4 as a main dish.
4 duck legs (approx weight 220g each)
1/2 tsp salt
1 small onion, approx 80g (peeled & sliced)
5 cloves of garlic, approx 15g (peeled & sliced)
1/2 tsp Mexican Oregano
1/2 tsp cumin (freshly ground if possible)
1 tsp cider vinegar
Garnish options:
1 small onion (finely diced)
1/4 a cucumber (peeled and finely diced)
2 radishes (quartered & finely sliced)
Guacamole (with a generous squeeze of lime)
Place the duck legs in a saucepan big enough so both lay flat in the pan and cover with water by approx 1cm and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer, then partially rest lid on pan and cook for about one hour.
In the meantime, de-stem and de-seed the Cascabel chillies, then soak them in one cup of hot water with the Chipotle and Guajillo diced chillies.
When the duck is barely tender, remove the lid and turn up the heat to boil away the liquid. You will begin to hear the duck frying in it's own fat. Remove the pan from the heat, place the duck legs on a plate to cool and decant the duck fat to a bowl for later. Keep the pan, do not wash up.
In a frying pan, add one tablespoon of the duck fat, when hot fry the onion and garlic until golden. Then place this mixture
in a jug that can be used with a stick blender. Add the chillies with their soaking liquid, Mexican Oregano, cumin and
cider vinegar to the jug and blend to a smooth purée. Push the purée through a sieve into a bowl to remove any bits
and set aside.
When the duck is cool enough to handle, remove the skin, bones and shred the meat. In the original saucepan (reserved from cooking the duck legs) add approx one tablespoon of reserved duck fat, when medium hot, add the shredded meat and fry until soft and it just starts to colour. Lower the heat, add the chilli purée, stir and simmer covered for approx half
an hour. Add a little more water if necessary and cook until meat is fork tender. Add salt to taste.
Serve on small soft corn tortillas with garnishes or limey guacamole if you wish.