Chef Julio Cesar Flores prepares Peruvian Cebiche de Pato, as seen on Food Network Kitchen.
Recipe courtesy of Julio-Cesar Florez

Cebiche de Pato

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  • Level: Intermediate
  • Total: 4 hr 15 min (includes marinating time)
  • Active: 30 min
  • Yield: 4 servings
Cebiche de pato (duck ceviche) is a play on words. It's a braised dish, not raw like traditional ceviche, but named after that cold dish because of its sour taste. This rich duck served with hot rice originated in the small Peruvian towns north of Lima. When I was a kid my dad would take the family on a trip to Trujillo in northern Peru to visit family, and along the way we'd stop in the town of Casma and enjoy this specialty. The savory meat falling from the bone is comforting, and the tartness from the sour orange and the kick from aji amarillo pepper make the dish memorably enticing.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine the duck and sour orange juice in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.
  2. Once the duck is marinated, remove and pat it dry; reserve the orange juice. Heat up a pot or Dutch oven over high heat and add the oil to cover the bottom of the pot. Working in batches, brown the duck for about 3 minutes per side. Remove the duck from the pot and set aside.
  3. Add the diced red onion to the pot and cook over medium heat until lightly browned. Add 1 tablespoon kosher salt, the garlic paste, aji amarillo and cumin and cook for 3 more minutes. Return the duck to the pot along with the reserved juice. Add the yellow onion wedges and 1 cup of water. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot, adjust the heat and simmer over low heat until the meat is very tender and almost falling off the bone, about 45 minutes.
  4. Arrange the duck and the boiled yuca on a platter or plates. Spoon on some braising liquid and the cooked onion wedges. Serve with the rice and enjoy.

Cook’s Note

If sour orange juice is not available, use a combination of regular orange juice and lime juice; for the 1 cup called for in this recipe, 2/3 cup orange juice and 1/3 cup lime juice is a good substitution. Jars of fruity, mildly spicy aji amarillo paste are sold in some larger supermarkets and in grocery stores catering to Peruvian or South American customers, or find this ingredient online.