It’s all about duck this weekend.
That’s a pan-seared duck breast with an apricot sauce, cabbage braised with onions, a baguette slice with duck liver pâté and a tiny dill pickle, and forbidden rice. Forbidden rice is Chinese black rice and its name comes from a fanciful story that once upon a time it was only eaten by royalty. It tastes somewhat like brown rice, but also has an almost fruity taste.
Lots of recipes I’ve tried with duck call for searing the duck breast on high heat for a couple minutes per side. I don’t know what’s different in my world, but if I cook duck for a couple minutes per side almost none of the fat is rendered and the duck is still raw.
Here’s how I cook a duck breast. This is the basic technique for getting the duck nicely cooked. There are all sorts of seasonings and marinades and sauces to make it a complete dish.
Basic Pan-Seared Duck Breast
Pat the duck breast dry
If there is overhanging extra skin trim it off to the shape of the meat
Score the fat in a 1/2″ grid. Try to cut all the way through the fat without cutting into the meat
Put an ovensafe heavy skillet on medium low heat and put the duck breast in skin side down
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Let the duck cook until all the fat is rendered and the skin is golden brown. This should take about 15 minutes. Check it periodically and adjust the heat as needed.
Flip the breast over and cook 2 minutes on the other side.
Flip back on the skin side and put the skillet in the oven.
Let it cook in the oven 6 to 8 minutes, it should reach about 155 degrees internal temperature.
Take it out of the pan and let it rest 5 minutes before slicing.
At 155 degrees it will be cooked medium, pink and juicy in the middle. Cook it more or less to your taste.
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