Duck Tacos or The Power of Happy Moments

I don’t know about you, but I love cooking shows – e.g. Masterchef. And I used to hear it ever so often – connect with your memories, with your past experiences, with your childhood and so on. I’ve made some attempts at it when I was trying to invent some fusion dishes, mixing the cuisines of countries I’ve lived in. Yet I only recently decided to give it a deeper dry, in a more profound way. 

I was born in the USSR, in a part which would eventually declare independence as Ukraine. It was tough – on top of the fact that savings disappeared and devalued overnight, my parents’ flat burned down, and it took us over a year to rebuild and get back to our feet. So yes – we never had much money. Yet there was something more or less constant that my grandmothers and parents tried their best to buy for festive occasions – it was duck. They roasted it stuffed with green apples, and it was truly wonderful. For me, it is a smell and a taste of childhood, New Year celebrations  – truly warm memories.

So it is not surprising that my experiment in finding a meaningful connection between what I cook and my experiences is about duck. 

I started making these experiments about a year ago. You’d be laughing, but it is not easy to cook not only Mexican here in Georgia, but even finding duck is a challenge.

My first attempts were guided by Jamie Oliver’s recipe, where he suggested roasting the legs in a tomato-chipotle-orange type of marinade, basting them until the meat is very tender. It was alright, however, the amount of actual meat out of the 650g duck legs pack was so minuscule that I was disappointed. 

The sauce was quite nice, and I also made a separate apple salsa by roasting green apples and mixing them with duck fat, onion, coriander, lime juice and jalapenos. This proved to be a success, and here is the recipe for you guys to try:

Roasted green apple salsa

• 500g roasted green apple with some added duck fat
• 5-7 slices jalapeno (more if you want it to be spicier)
• handful of chopped coriander
• 50 g white onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 30 ml lemon juice
• pinch of salt 
• pinch of black pepper (you can also use allspice)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp oregano

Instructions

• Reserve some duck fat (when you pan fry the duck) and then roast or stew apples in this fat. 
• Combine roasted apples with the rest of the ingredients except lime juice in a pot and stew until the onion just cooks through.
• Blend it all together with lime juice.

This salsa should have sweetness from the apples, spiciness from jalapenos, and freshness from lime juice. And it goes amazingly with duck.

Duck Tacos: Recipe and Tips

Now, let’s go back to the main event once again – how do we cook the duck?

I’ve started with the slow-cooking method. I’ve seared the duck breasts, reserved some of the fat for the apples and then put them in a pot together with the tomato-chipotle-orange marinade and herbs. After hours and hours, I did not like the result – the duck was cooked, but it wasn’t shreddable, and a bit tough. 

I’ve decided to put a pressure cooker lid on, and after just 15 minutes of cooking it there on High, it was rather good – tender and shreddable. 

So moving forward, you simply need 30-45minutes (depending on the quantity) to pressure cook to achieve that shreddable ‘carnitas’ effect.

I love the texture, but I was not 100% satisfied with the flavour. It was soft and tender, but lacked that uniquely duck taste. 

So I’ve continued with the experiment and this time decided to slowly pan-fry the duck. And then finish it off by keeping the lid on during the last 3-5 minutes of the cook. 

Instructions:

Start with a cold pan. Put the duck breast skin side down (it’s recommended that you score the skin and marinate the fillet in salt and allspice at least 30 minutes in advance) and fry on low for 7 minutes. You need to wait until all the fat has been rendered and the skin is crispy. You can baste the top with the duck fat. 

Now, here is a debate on the doneness. If you keep the lid on for another 3-4 minutes, you will achieve that French classic ‘rose’ effect. I’ve tried it and I think, should it be some French-inspired dish, it would be amazing. But I’ve made another test and kept the breast under the lid (you can also flip it skin up) for an extra 3-4 minutes so it’s fully cooked. This result I loved better for the tacos.

The Result: Duck Tacos with Roasted Apple-Jalapeno Salsa

I must admit this was fantastic. So I’ve fried some yellow heirloom corn tortillas (I’ve used masa harina by Bob’s Red Mill, you can find instructions how to make tortillas yourself here), warmed up apple salsa, chopped just a tiny bit of onion-coriander for a fresh topping and added a tiny bit of red hot sauce (admittedly, I’ve had a jar of Valentina).

Wow, that was an explosion of flavour and an unmistakenly duck flavour through and through. That transported me to my childhood, to a living room of my parents’ apartment where we used to have a bit of a feast celebrating New Year’s Eve and birthdays. 

Now, I’d like to hear your stories!

What are your favourite dishes that move you mentally to your happy places, be it childhood, celebrations with your parents or other memorable events? How often do you cook them as an adult?