Duck Confit with Forest Mushroom Rice
This dish truly captures the essence of fall: warm, forest-driven, aromatic, and crafted from ingredients that evoke the colder months ahead. From that foundation, the dish builds upward: the confit, the tare-glazed breast, the mix of forest mushrooms, and the botanical garnishes all rest on rice that actually holds its own. It doesn’t just absorb — it expresses. This recipe stars U.S.-grown Calrose rice and comes to us from our friend Chef Hari Cameron in partnership with USA Rice.
-
Serving Size4
Ingredients
Duck Confit (Sous Vide)
- Legs and thighs from 1 whole duck (5 lb / ~2.27 kg)
- 30g white soy sauce
- 30g shio koji
- 2 garlic cloves
- 4g fresh thyme sprigs
- 15–20g duck fat or olive oil
Tare-Glazed Duck Breast
- Duck breasts from the same bird
- 120ml sake
- 60 ml soy sauce
- 60ml mirin
- 30g sugar or honey
- 1 piece kombu (5 x 5 cm)
- 15g ginger, sliced
- 2 green onion bottoms
Forest Mushroom Calrose Rice
- 200g Calrose rice
- 15g dried porcini
- 25g mushroom stems (shiitake + royal trumpet)
- 475 ml duck stock (from the duck carcass)
- 30g shio koji
- 20g duck fat
- Salt, to taste
- 200g total mixed fresh mushrooms (morel, shiitake caps, crimini, royal trumpet caps, oyster, maitake)
- 15g parsley, chopped
Salt-Toasted Rice
- 30g raw Calrose rice
- 500–600g coarse salt
Final Garnish
- Salt-toasted rice
- Fresh basil
- Parsley
- Fennel fronds
- Fennel pollen
- Cosmos flowers
- Nasturtium petals
- White citrus begonia petals
Directions
Duck Confit (Sous Vide)
- Rub legs and thighs with shio koji and white soy.
- Place the ingredients in a sous vide bag with garlic, thyme, and a small amount of fat.
- Cook at 77°C (170°F) for 12 hours or overnight.
- Shred and reserve.
Tare-Glazed Duck Breast
- Combine sake, soy sauce, mirin, sugar/honey, kombu, ginger, and green onion bottoms in a saucepan.
- Simmer until slightly thickened; remove aromatics.
- Score and sear the duck breasts skin-side down until the skin is crisp.
- Brush with tare and finish to medium or medium-rare.
- Rest and slice.
Forest Mushroom Calrose Rice
- Heat the duck stock and add dried porcini and mushroom stems. Steep until the porcini softens. Strain, chop porcini, and discard stems.
- Roast or sauté fresh mushrooms in duck fat; reserve.
- Toast rice in duck fat until glossy, then add shio koji.
- Add mushroom-infused duck stock and chopped porcini.
- Cook until rice is tender.
- Fold in roasted mushrooms, shredded confit, and parsley. Adjust seasoning.
Salt-Toasted Rice
- Heat the coarse salt in a heavy skillet until it is very hot.
- Add a few grains of rice at a time; they should puff in seconds.
- Remove with a mesh strainer and cool.
Plating
- Spoon the forest mushroom rice with duck confit into bowls.
- Top with sliced tare-glazed duck breast.
- Finish with salt-toasted rice, herbs, petals, and fennel pollen.
