Arroz con Pato

Braised Duck Legs with Seco Sauce & Rice

There are so many different versions of arroz con pollo, rice and chicken, all over Latin America and Spain. We usually make ours with cilantro, so the braise cooks down into a jus-like sauce and turns the color of the forest. In northern Peru, native Muscovy ducks (sidebar follows) are often used instead of chicken. Once you’ve had arroz con pato, it’s hard to go back. With all of that good fat, the meat is so juicy and full flavored.

I usually cook the duck confit-style, meaning very slowly braised in oil, but the legs are also very good simply roasted in the oven. Chicken is also great, especially if you are short on time. Use bone-in thighs or whole legs, and sauté them in oil for a little color before braising them.

This recipe makes a good amount of braise that cooks down into more of a jus-like reduction than a thicker sauce. Fold a few spoonfuls into rice for a quick arroz verde (page 205). If you have the pantry ingredients to make huancaína sauce, all the better, but this duck can definitely stand alone.

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F and place a rack in the bottom third of the oven. Arrange the roasted duck legs, fat side up, snugly in a medium Dutch oven or a baking dish with 3- or 4-inch sides, and pour the braise over them. If the legs are not fully covered, try a different size pot, or add a cup or two of chicken stock. Cover the pot with a lid or foil. (If using bone-in chicken thighs, skip the oven-braising step and brown the pieces in hot olive oil on the stovetop.)

2 Bake the duck legs until the meat is fall-apart tender, a good 3 hours. (For chicken, cut the baking time to 1¼ to 1½ hours.) Use a large spoon to skim off as much of the surface fat from the braising liquid as possible (although a little fat is always tasty). Taste the poultry and braising liquid (it should have cooked down to a jus-like reduction) and season with salt, if needed. (With chicken, the sauce will not have reduced as much; you can reduce the sauce further on its own in the pot after removing the chicken if you’d like.) If you are not serving the duck right away, let cool completely in the seco sauce and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

3 To serve, fold a little of the reduced seco sauce into the steamed rice, if you’d like to make green rice. Arrange the whole duck legs on the rice and spoon a little more of the seco sauce on top. Don’t forget the huancaína sauce, if you have it. Drizzle the sauce all over everything, or serve it alongside.

Muscovy, the Moche & Mo-Chica

The ancient city of Machu Picchu, built by the Incas into a mountainside in southern Peru some 8,000 feet above sea level, is one of the wonders of the world. The surrounding Cuzco region, the Incas’ government headquarters as they expanded their control along the South American coastline, is a great place to try southern Peruvian cuisine like rocoto rellenos, rocoto peppers stuffed with meat, raisins, and peanuts.

But ever since I was a kid, I’ve always felt a stronger connection to the Moche, the pre-Incan civilization that thrived along northern Peru’s river valleys from around ad 100 to 900. Building an empire in the desert between the coast and the Andes gave the Moche access to both sea and land animals, but it also meant they had to adapt to agricultural conditions in a dry, desertlike region that wasn’t very friendly for farming. They developed a very intricate canal system to grow crops like corn, beans, and squash and on which to raise domesticated animals like llamas, guinea pigs, and Muscovy ducks, which they domesticated more than 1,500 years ago.

If the Moche could take the situation they were given and turn it into something much better, I know I can, too. One of my favorite phrases is “Let’s make it happen.” I say it so much that people I work with look at me like I’m crazy. Archaeologists sometimes refer to the Moche as Mochica, which was the name of my first restaurant in Los Angeles. At first, even opening that tiny little space seemed impossible . . . but we made it happen.