Duck with Bulgarian Sauerkraut
Bulgarian braised duck and homemade sauerkraut
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 whole duck, cut in pieces carcass reserved
- 1 cup chopped duck fat
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 whole star anise
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 head Bulgarian-style fermented cabbage кисело зеле (kiselo zele)
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 leeks cleaned and sliced
- 2 Tbsp red pepper or paprika
Instructions
- After removing the breasts and leg quarters from the whole duck, cut away the strip of fat running down the length of the carcass. Save for another use, such as frying potatoes, if desired.
- Place the trimmed duck carcass into a large pot filled with cold water. Add peppercorns, cinnamon, anise and soy sauce. Simmer for ½ hour to make a broth.
- Meanwhile trim excess fat from the duck pieces. Cut up about a cup of fat pieces and place in a large cast iron skillet or heavy, deep frying pan. Melt duck fat over medium heat.
- Put the duck breasts and leg quarters into the frying pan, sprinkle with the sugar and brown them on all sides in the melted duck fat. Remove the browned duck pieces to a large oven-safe casserole dish or Dutch oven. Pour off all but 3-4 tablespoons of fat from the pan (save excess for another use, if desired).
- Remove and discard the core from a head of fermented cabbage (Bulgarian-style kiselo zele). Roughly chop the cabbage into rather large pieces.
- Put the cabbage into fresh water in a large pot and bring to a boil. This will remove any excess salt. Cook for a total of 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, remove the carcass from the broth. Trim any meat from the bones and reserve.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Drain the sauerkraut and put in the frying pan with the reserved fat; stir to coat. Add the cooked meat salvaged from the carcass, tomato paste, salt and leeks. Ladle 1 cup of duck broth over the cabbage. Stir to combine completely. Sprinkle with the red pepper.
- Spoon the sauerkraut mixture over the duck pieces in the Dutch oven, cover and bake in the oven for 1½ hours.
- Serve duck pieces on top of sauerkraut (with red wine recommended).
Notes
Instead of a whole duck you could use all leg quarters, if you can find them sold separately. In that case, use a reserved chicken or duck carcass from another dish. I often freeze carcasses and bones for use in broths and have them on hand when needed.
This recipe uses only 1 cup of the duck broth. Reserve the rest for a soup or sauce.