Whenever I butcher whole ducks (this happens a lot more than you’d think, but I guess that’s the benefit of butchering whole animals), I love making stock using the bones, and then taking the scrap meat from the carcass and folding that into congee, which is Chinese rice porridge. When I was learning how to make Chinese food, congee was one of the first things that I learned how to make. It’s simple, can be rich in flavor, and is just a bowl of warm, stodgy comfort. Yet, it can be plated in ways that make it look gorgeous. For this particular recipe, I wanted to share how to take leftover jasmine rice and duck, and transform them into a delicious breakfast dish.

For the congee:
1 cup pre-cooked jasmine rice
3 cups duck broth
1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon duck fat
3 tablespoons finely sliced scallions
2/3 cups pre-cooked duck meat; shredded

Sweat out garlic and ginger in duck fat. Deglaze with duck broth. Add in the jasmine rice, and season with soy sauce. Bring to a simmer until the mixture thickens substantially, and finish with the duck meat and scallion.

For the duck broth:
1 whole duck carcass; breasts, thighs, legs, and wings removed
water

Roast the duck carcasses at 450 degrees F for 5 minutes, then simmer in a pot of water for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the carcass and cool completely. Remove the meat from the bones and reserve for the shredded duck meat in the congee. Skim and reserve the fat, as you will be using that in both the congee and the churros.

For the duck fat Chinese churros
1/2 cup flour
4 tablespoons duck fat + more for frying
1/2 cup water
2 eggs

Bring water and fat to a simmer then add in the flour. Cool the mixture down and add in the eggs, one at a time. Transfer the homogenous mixture into a piping bag. Heat the duck fat to 350 degrees F for fry the churros for 2-3 minutes.

For garnish:
Soy sauce
egg yolk

Pour the congee into the bottom of the bowl and garnish with soy sauce and an egg yolk. Serve with the churros.