Village Duck

This homestyle recipe comes from the Carpathian Mountains – one of my favorite regional cuisines. The food there is hearty, savory, and for those into sustainability it’s usually farm-to-table. This recipe is known as village duck and a very popular dish to serve on those cold mountain nights.

ukrainian village duck in a traditional milk fired clay bowl with a loaf of bread on a marble table

I have so many great Ukrainian recipes on this site, mostly because I live here. But if we are talking about regional specialties then my Carpathian recipes take the crown. This mountain cuisine pulls from Ukrainian, Romanian, Polish, and Hungarian traditions for unique and delicious dishes.

Village duck is essentially a simple braised duck with root vegetables, herbs, and spices. Traditionally one would use a whole duck for this recipe, but I prefer to just use duck legs and save the breasts for fancier dishes like my miso glazed duck breast, or duck with blackcurrants.

How To Cook A Carpathian Village Duck

This dish is extremely easy to make, after all it is village food. These sort of no-nonsense, hearty dishes are commonplace in an agriculture society. Unlike my many duck breast recipes, this recipe doesn’t require much paying attention – it is great for feeding a family while doing other stuff.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole Duck or 4 Duck Legs – I recommend using just the legs as the breast is a more prime piece of meat and can be cooked better than braising. Whereas legs are tougher and do well with this cooking method.
  • 2-3 Yellow Onions – sliced into rings
  • 1 large Carrot – peeled and sliced into rounds or half rounds
  • 500 ml Chicken Stock
  • 6 cloves Garlic – peeled and given a rough smash
  • 1 tbsp Allspice
  • 1 tsp Coriander Seed
  • 2-3 Bay Leaf
  • 1 tsp Salt – plus more to taste at the end, depending on if your stock is already salty enough
  • Black Pepper – freshly cracked, to taste

How To Cook Duck Legs

duck legs skin side down in a steel pan

I cook the duck legs with the same method of cooking duck breast, however the legs are a far more forgiving part of the bird. Place the duck legs skin side down in a cold pan and put the heat on the lowest setting. Slowly raise the temperature over the next 10 minutes until the fat begins to render and the skin crisps up.

four duck legs with crispy skin in a steel pan

When the skin is crispy flip the duck legs and cook the meat side for just a minute, then remove the legs and set aside.

sliced onions and carrots being fried in a steel pan with duck fat on a stovetop

Right into the hot duck fat add the carrot and onion and salt. Give everything a stir so the fat coats the vegetables. You can turn the heat low and let the onions and carrots cook down a bit. This will take about 30 minutes. Or you can keep the heat on high and stir constantly to cook them down in about 10 minutes, but then you risk burning the ingredients.

You want your onion and carrots to look like the picture above. Softened and slightly fried in the duck fat. Once you reach this level toss in the smashed garlic, coriander, and allspice, and fry for another minute to release flavors.

Add the stock, bay leaf, and black pepper and bring to a boil. While this is happening prepare a heavy lidded pot or Dutch oven. Place your duck legs into the pot so the meat is aimed down.

Pour the liquid from the pan over the duck in the pot. If there isn’t enough liquid don’t worry, the heavy lid will prevent the meat from drying out or burning. You actually don’t want too much liquid otherwise you’re just making soup.

baked village duck in a dutch oven

Place the pot or Dutch oven into an oven at 160C or 320F and bake for 1-1.5 hours. You can get away with less, but if you have the time why not go more. It is near impossible to overcook duck leg with this method – you just end up with a more and more tender fall off the bone meat.

ukrainian village duck in a traditional milk fired clay bowl with a loaf of bread on a marble table

To serve I like to plate the duck with the carrots and onions and very little liquid. This is a knife and fork dish, not a soup so the remaining liquid can be saved for something later like gravy. Of course, you can never go wrong with some crusty bread on the side.

What To Serve With Carpathian Village Duck

This dish is a great main course, but if you want to stick to the Carpathian theme here are some starters and sides that pair well with a village duck:

  • Crusty baguette or other farm style bread
  • Dill Potatoes – these simple boiled new potatoes mixed with smetana, dill, and fried pork cracklings are a common Ukrainian side dish.
  • Soup – If you want to make a full meal out of this, start with a traditional Carpathian Mushroom Soup (Autumn and Winter) or a fresh cold Strawberry Soup (Spring and Summer).
ukrainian village duck in a traditional milk fired clay bowl with a loaf of bread on a marble table

Village Duck

This homestyle recipe comes from the Carpathian Mountains – one of my favorite regional cuisines. The food there is hearty, savory, and for those into sustainability it's usually farm-to-table. This recipe is known as village duck and a very popular dish to serve on those cold mountain nights.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Course Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine Carpathian, Eastern European, Ukrainian
Servings 4 people
Calories 210 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Pan
  • 1 Heavy Lidded Pot or Dutch Oven

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole Duck or 4 Duck Legs I recommend using just the legs as the breast is a more prime piece of meat and can be cooked better than braising. Whereas legs are tougher and do well with this cooking method.
  • 2-3 Yellow Onions sliced into rings
  • 1 large Carrot peeled and sliced into rounds or half rounds
  • 500 ml Chicken Stock
  • 6 cloves Garlic peeled and given a rough smash
  • 1 tbsp Allspice
  • 1 tsp Coriander Seed
  • 2-3 Bay Leaf
  • 1 tsp Salt plus more to taste at the end depending on if your stock is already salty enough
  • Black Pepper freshly cracked, to taste

Instructions
 

  • To begin place the duck skin side down in a cold pan. Turn the heat on low and slowly raise it over the next 10 minutes as the fat begins to render. By the end the heat should be on max and the duck leg skin should be crispy and crackly.
  • Flip the duck legs and cook skin side up for one minute, then remove the legs and place them in your pot or dutch oven off to the side.
  • Right into the pan with the rendered duck fat add the onions, carrot, and salt. Lower the heat to medium and stir the pan around, coating the vegetables. Cook down the onions and carrots until they are softened and lightly fried, between 10-30 minutes depending on how low you turn the heat. Try not to burn any of the vegetables.
  • Once the onions and carrots are basically done, toss in the garlic, allspice, and coriander seeds and fry everything for about a minute. Then pour in the stock, bay leaf, and black pepper and bring everything to a boil.
  • Preheat your oven to 160C or 320F
  • When the pan liquid is boiling turn off the heat and pour everything over the duck legs in the pot. Don't worry if there isn't enough liquid, the heavy lid will prevent the meat from drying out or burning by retaining the moisture while in the oven.
  • Place the pot or dutch oven into the oven for about 1-1.5 hours. You can bake for longer – it's nearly impossible to overcook duck with this method. Although the vegetables will get very soft so I usually only do 1.5 hours max.
  • Remove the pot and plate the village duck. I don't pour over a lot of the liquid since I serve this dish with a knife and fork – it isn't a soup after all. Enjoy!
Keyword Braising, Duck, Poultry, Stew
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