Arroz de Pato is a classic Portuguese dish that combines Carolino rice with shredded duck meat, aromatics, and sliced chouriço, all baked in the oven until nice and golden. It was one of the first dishes I tried in Portugal, and I was immediately blown away! It’s absolutely delicious and packed with flavour. It’s also a great way to prepare duck, which is such an underrated meat. Keep reading to learn how to prepare an authentic Portuguese Duck Rice from scratch!
Arroz de Pato (Portuguese Style Duck Rice)
Of all the Portuguese rice dishes out there, this one is my favourite. It consists of a whole broken down duck stewed with aromatics and chouriço. This creates a rich stock for you to cook the rice in. The duck is then shredded and sautéed, and the chouriço sliced. In the end, both the rice and the duck are mixed in and baked with the slices of chouriço layered on top. The fat from the chouriço drips down into the rice adding a delicious smoky flavour. If done properly it should be crispy on top but still moist on the inside.
Ingredients for an Authentic Arroz de Pato
To make this recipe you will need a whole duck, chouriço, carrots, onions, garlic, fresh thyme and rosemary, the white parts of green onions, a bay leaf, rice, port, tomato concentrate, salt, and pepper. I usually buy a whole duck and break it down myself, but you can also ask your butcher to cut it up for you. It doesn’t really matter in how many pieces it’s chopped, however, it’s important to keep the skin for the fat, and the carcass as well, as it will add so much flavour to the broth. I usually use port wine, but it can be replaced for any dessert wine of your preference. You can also use a regular red!
Making Portuguese Duck Rice – The Method
We start by rendering the fat from the duck skin. Put your duck pieces on a large skillet, with the skin facing down. Place it over low to medium heat. Make sure you don’t overcrowd the skillet, and do it in batches if needed. Cook until the skin is golden brown and the fat has rendered down. Turn it to sear on the other side too. Transfer most of the fat to a separate bowl, set aside.
Add the seared duck to a large pot alongside the chopped carrots and onions, the chouriço, garlic, your fresh herbs, and whole peppercorns, then cover with water. Bring it to a boil on high heat, then reduce it to low. Simmer for about 1h, skimming the surface every now and then. Take out the chouriço, set aside. Simmer the duck for another 30 minutes.
Take out your duck pieces, then strain the broth with the help of a colander. Once the meat has cooled down, peel the duck skin off and discard it. Roughly shred the meat. Dice the remaining onion, add it to a large pan, then sautée over medium heat with half the fat you rendered earlier, until translucent. Add in the minced garlic and let it cook for a minute. Add in the shredded duck, sautée for another minute or two, then season with salt and pepper. Stir in your tomato concentrate, cook for another minute. Deglaze the pan with the port wine.
Once the alcohol has evaporated, add in the rice, then cover with the strained broth to about an inch above where the rice sits, top with some water if needed. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook over low heat until the broth is almost fully absorbed and the rice is still al dente.
Thinly slice half of the cooked chouriço, and dice the other half. Stir the diced chouriço into the rice. Transfer the rice to a baking dish, then top it with the slices of chouriço. Bake at 200°C with the grill setting on for about 20 minutes or until the top looks golden and crispy. Enjoy!
What Type of Rice Should You Use in Arroz de Pato?
When cooking Portuguese rice recipes, I usually go with the local Carolino rice, which is a short grain rice that’s great at absorbing the flavour of other ingredients. However, it seems there’s no consensus among the Portuguese with what rice should be used and some people use parboiled rice, arroz agulha, or even basmati. My advice is, if you prefer a creamier Arroz de Pato, go for the Carolino, if you prefer crispier use parboiled rice. I’ve tried the two ways, and they are both delicious and equally authentic.
How to Make Portuguese Duck Rice
Arroz de Pato – Portuguese Duck Rice
6
servings1
hour40
minutes20
minutes733
kcalArroz de Pato is a tradition rice dish made up of rice and duck cooked in a delicous duck stock.
Ingredients
1 Whole 1 Whole Duck - broken down into smaller pieces
450 g 2 3/7 cup Carolino Rice
3 3 Medium Carrots
2 2 Large Onions
7 7 Garlic Cloves
200 g 3 1/2 oz Chouriço
100 ml 3/7 cup Port Wine
1 tbsp 1 Tomato Concentrate
1 1 Bay Leaf
1 1 Sprig of Rosemary
3 3 Sprigs of Thyme
4 4 Green Onions - white parts
Salt - to taste
Ground Black Pepper - to taste
5 5 Black Peppercorns - whole
Directions
- Put your duck pieces on a large skillet, with the skin facing down. Place it over low to medium heat. Cook until the skin is golden brown and the fat has rendered down. Drain most of the fat into a bowl, reserve.
- Transfer the seared duck to a large pot alongside its carcass. Peel the carrots and roughly chop them, do the same with one of the onions. Add both to the pot too with the chouriço, 3 garlic cloves, a couple of sprigs of rosemary and thyme, a bay leaf, the white parts of four green onions, and the whole peppercorns.
- Bring it to a boil on high heat, then reduce it to low heat. Simmer for about 1h, skimming the surface every now and then. Take out the chouriço, set aside. Simmer for another 30 minutes.
- Take out your duck pieces, then strain the broth with the help of a colander. Once the meat has cooled down, peel the duck skin off then discard it. Roughly shred the meat.
- Dice the remaining onion, add it to a large pan, then sautée over medium heat until translucent with half the fat you rendered earlier. Mince the remaining 4 garlic cloves, add it in too. Let it cook for a minute. Add in the shredded duck meat, sautée for another minute or two then season with salt and pepper.
- Add in your tomato concentrate, cook for another minute. Deglaze the pan with the port wine. Once the alcohol has evaporated, add in the rice, then cover with the strained broth to about an inch above the line of the rice, top with water if needed. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook over low heat until the broth is almost fully absorbed and the rice is still al dente.
- In the meantime, pre heat the oven to 200°C. Turn on the grill setting if your oven is equipped with it.
- Thinly slice half of the cooked chouriço, and dice the other half. Stir the diced chouriço into the rice. Season with more salt and pepper. Transfer the rice to a baking dish, then top it with the slices of chouriço. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the top looks golden and crispy. Enjoy!
Notes
- Your rice should not be fully cooked before baking as it will continue to cook in the oven. It should also have some liquid, so if yours is completely dry, make sure to add more stock before you bake.
- I'm using Carolino rice in this recipe which is a Portuguese rice variety. In case that's not available to you, you can swap it for risotto rice or any rice of your preference.
- When rendering the fat, add the duck to a cold skillet then place it over low to medium heat. That's the best way to extract all the fat.
Have you tried this recipe? Let me know in the comments!
So tasty!