Arroz de Pato à Moda de Braga

Ingredients

• 1 duck (about 2 kg)
• 1/2 pig's ear, cleaned
• 200 g presunto or smoked ham, in one piece
• 1 chouriço de carne (about 150 g)
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 clove
• 2 bay leaves
• A few parsley stalks
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 400 g carolino or other short-grain rice
• 1 lemon
• 30 g butter, softened
• Salt, to taste
• 2 oranges, to serve

Before you cook

• Pull any loose fat out of the duck cavity and pat the bird dry inside and out.
• Rub the duck all over with salt.
• Scrub the pig's ear thoroughly.
• Halve the onion, peel the carrots, and gather the bay leaves, clove, parsley stalks and peppercorns together.
• Butter a wide shallow earthenware or ceramic baking dish.

Steps

1. Put the duck, pig's ear, presunto, onion, carrots, clove, bay leaves, parsley stalks and peppercorns into a large pot.
2. Pour in enough cold water to cover the duck by 3 cm and add a good pinch of salt.
3. Bring the pot slowly to a boil and skim off every bit of foam that rises.
4. Turn the heat right down to a bare simmer and cook for one hour.
5. Add the chouriço to the pot and simmer for a further twenty minutes.
6. Test the duck: a leg should feel loose in its socket but the bird should still hold together.
7. Lift out all the meats and set them on a tray to cool.
8. Strain the broth into a clean bowl and leave it to settle for fifteen minutes.
9. Skim most of the fat off the surface, keeping three tablespoons of it in a small bowl.
10. Measure out 900 ml of the broth and taste it for salt.
11. Bring the measured broth to a boil in a saucepan with the juice of half the lemon.
12. Stir in the rice and simmer uncovered for ten minutes, until the grains are half cooked and plenty of liquid still remains.
13. Heat the oven to 200C.
14. Pull the duck meat off the bone in generous pieces, discarding the skin and bones.
15. Slice the chouriço into coins, dice the presunto, and cut the pig's ear into thin strips.
16. Spread half the loose rice over the base of the buttered dish.
17. Lay the duck meat, presunto and pig's ear over the rice.
18. Cover with the remaining rice and level the top.
19. Press the chouriço coins into the surface and dot the top with the softened butter and the reserved duck fat.
20. Bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes, until the liquid has gone and the top is crusted and deep gold.
21. Rest the dish for ten minutes, then serve it with slices of orange alongside.