Make This Now: Cosme’s Showstopping Duck

Carnitas Tacos
bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-19/make-this-now-cosme-s-showstopping-duck-carnitas-tacos

Looking succulent, the duck rests after its overnight braise.

Duck fat fired across the stovetop as Garcia flipped 10 ducks, his arms gracefully
dodging the oily bullets. Once he browned the skin on all sides, Garcia set the birds
aside to prepare the braising liquid: He sautéed garlic, onions, and carrots, adding
tomatoes and orange slices, and finally a mix of evaporated and condensed milks, and
Mexican Coke.

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 The finished duck, presented like it is at Cosme, for D.I.Y. carnitas

Soto-Innes explained that the condensed milk is for sweetness and browning, while the
evaporated milk helps tenderize the meat. The ducks are cooked overnight in this
fragrant liquid, along with enough duck fat to nearly cover them. Morning-shift cooks
debone the birds and roll them back up. The process sounds intricate, but Villegas
assured me the bones pull away easily from the meat if you use your fingers.

Make two ducks. It’s that delicious.

Eight hours later, I awoke to perfumes of savory caramel from the oven. I pulled the
duck from the fat (Cosme’s cooks use gloves; I wish I had, too) and nibbled on the
wings. I tasted orange, warm spice, sweet and savory meat. It was worth the wait.

After dividing the duck in two and removing the bones—a tedious but therapeutic
exercise—I tucked the meat back over the skin, rolled the skin over itself, and popped
the misshapen cylinders under the broiler to crisp the skin. These steps kept the mess in
the kitchen and not at the table. Served with flash-pickled onions (double the quantity
that Cosme uses), limes, and the best store-bought tortillas I could find, it was a hit.

Cosme’s duck carnitas is project cooking at its best. If you’re serving it to a large group,
make it ahead (the boneless duck halves keep well for several days under the braising
liquid), and it you have a vessel large enough, make two ducks. It’s that delicious. I’ve
since updated my dining rule: Order the dish you can’t make at home, then learn how to
make it.

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Duck Carnitas Tacos
Recipe adapted from Daniela Soto-Innes of Cosme
Serves 4 to 6

Prep Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 10 hours, 10 minutes

For the Duck

1 5½- to 6-pound duck
4 to 5 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
About 6 cups (2¾ pounds) duck fat (available for order from D'Artagnan)
1 ancho chili
Grapeseed oil, as needed
1 garlic head, halved horizontally
1 large white onion, cut into ¾-inch dice
2 large carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 1-inch dice
1 large orange, cut into sixths, and then crosswise into ½-inch wedges
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
½ cup Mexican Coca-Cola (American Coke is fine)
2 bay leaves

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8 whole allspice
Lime wedges, for serving
Warm tortillas, for serving

For the Topping

½ large white onion, very thinly sliced
2 medium radish, sliced into very thin rounds
2 limes
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons thinly sliced cilantro leaves, plus a few whole leaves to garnish
½ Serrano chili, sliced into very thin rounds

Directions
1. Four days before cooking, remove the insides of the duck; if you choose, reserve
gizzards for another use. Cut off excess fat; if you choose, refrigerate to render later.

2. Using kitchen shears, clip the flesh above and below the wishbone until you can wrap
your finger around the bone. Fold a 15-inch piece of butcher’s twine in half to create a
loop. Slide the twine, loop-side first, around the wishbone, then pass the two twine ends
through the loop to secure it, so you can hang it. (If you can’t hang it in the fridge, skip
the twine and just lay the salted duck on a wire rack over a baking sheet so air can
circulate around the duck, and rotate the bird twice a day)

3. Sprinkle the duck generously with salt, inside and out. It should look like it has been
heavily snowed on.

4. Using the twine, hang the duck in the refrigerator so air circulates around it. Set a
baking sheet under the duck to catch juices.

5. Four days later, cook the duck: Preheat the oven to 275°F. Melt the duck fat in a
medium saucepan; keep warm.

6. Set a small cast-iron pan over high heat. When hot, add the ancho chili and toast until
fragrant, about 1 minute per side. Remove the chili from the pan; set aside. If you
choose to render more duck fat, add the reserved duck skin pieces to the hot pan and
sear on all sides until the fat has rendered; set the fat aside.

7. In a 7-quart braising pan or Dutch oven, heat just enough grapeseed oil to coat the
pan over medium-high. Once hot, sear the duck on all sides until golden brown, 10 to 15
minutes total. Transfer the duck to a baking sheet and pour off the fat; discard fat.

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8. Add enough oil to the hot pan to coat, then add the garlic and toast it over medium-
high heat, about 30 seconds. Add the onions and carrots and sauté until translucent,
about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring often, until they just soften, about
2 minutes. Add the oranges and cook for another minute. Add the evaporated milk,
sweetened condensed milk, and Mexican Coca-Cola and bring to a simmer. Move the
vegetables aside and place the duck into the pan. Tuck the toasted ancho chili, bay leaf,
and allspice into the braising sauce. Add enough melted duck fat to nearly cover the
duck. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan, then transfer to the oven and cook until tender,
about 8 hours.

9. Let the duck cool slightly, then pull it from the braising liquid onto a rimmed pan or
baking sheet. Strain the braising liquid and reserve.

10. Debone the duck: Wipe the braising bits off of the duck. Remove the wings; set them
aside to nibble on later. Cut the skin around the end of the leg bone to release it from the
bone and pull the small piece of skin off; discard. Slice down the breastbone). Slide your
fingers into the incision and run them along the bone to release the meat from the bone.
Repeat on the other side. Remove and discard the central carcass and any loose bones.
Carefully twist the leg bone until it releases, then pull it out. Repeat with the other leg
bone (be sure to remove the small dagger-like bone of the leg). Tuck any loose meat into
the center of a deboned duck half. Starting at the wide end of a duck half, roll the skin
over itself and into a cylinder, skin-side up. Transfer to a pan and cover it with the
reserved, strained braising liquid. It will keep covered in its braising liquid in the
refrigerator for several days.

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11. About an hour before serving, preheat the oven to 300°F. Pull the duck from the
braising liquid. Place it in a cast-iron pan and warm the duck through, for about 20
minutes. When ready to serve, place under a broiler until just browned, 30 to 60
seconds.

12. Just before serving, make the topping. Place the onion slices in a large bowl and the
radish slices in a small bowl. Add the juice of 1 lime to the onions and the juice of ½
lime to the radish. Season both with salt and toss each often. After 1 minute, taste the
radish, seasoning with more salt or soaking in the lime juice for longer, as needed.
Remove from the lime juice and blot dry. After 5 minutes, taste the onions. If sour
enough, remove from the lime juice. Season with salt and toss with cilantro leaves.

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13. To plate, cover each duck half with the pickled onions. Place a few radish slices over
the onions and Serrano slices over the radish. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve with
lime wedges and warm tortillas.

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