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This is a duck soup with two stories behind it, not one.
The first has been a long time coming. I live in Northern California, and hunt ducks and geese in the Sacramento Valley, where we grow more rice than anywhere else but Arkansas — another excellent duck hunting state, and no, that is not a coincidence.
Hunting flooded rice fields is one of the main ways we chase these birds, and many is the day I stare at rice grains still on a stray plant, drying in the winter sun, while I am waiting for a wigeon or pintail or teal to fly by.
And no matter whether you are in the rice or in a natural marsh, you will be surrounded by wild mustards of various species. Every year, as the season closes at the end of January, the marshes and orchards explode with a canary carpet of mustard blooms. And, you should know, those mustard greens are the same variety you buy in the supermarket.
Interspersed among the mustards, hiding in wetter places, is the invasive three-cornered leek, a wild onion you should learn to identify, as it is as tasty as it is environmentally friendly to pick.
After a good rain, underfoot grow masses of meadow mushrooms, our local cousin to the plain ole’ button mushroom you buy in the store. Whenever I find them, I pick them.
For many years, I’ve wanted to put all these ingredients together, along with wild duck, to make a dish that celebrates duck hunting where I live. But it took the carcasses of a fat canvasback and pintail to make it happen.
I don’t leave too many of my ducks whole these days. I prefer to cook legs and wings slow and low, and breasts hot and fast. But when I do keep my waterfowl whole, it is mostly to smoke them over fruit woods. I love my recipe for smoked duck, but the fact is the legs and wings are often too tough to eat without further cooking if you smoke the breasts to perfection. What to do?
Make this soup. I used the meaty carcasses of two fine ducks, with the legs and wings still attached (I used the breasts for another dish) to make a clear broth, and then I shredded the meat remaining on the bones for this soup. Added to that are roasted button mushrooms and foraged green onions and mustard; actually in the picture I used sea rocket, a maritime cousin of arugula that works just as well.
The result was worth the wait.
Rice cooked in the broth, nicely roasted mushrooms, the peppery bite of the mustard, a little gentle onion-ness from the chives, and above all the slightly salty, smoky broth and duck meat. A squeeze of lemon juice from a backyard lemon tree tied the duck soup all together.
It is both the perfect use for leftover roasted or smoked duck and a lovely hat tip to our NorCal duck hunting grounds. I couldn’t be happier with this recipe.
Duck Soup
Ingredients
BROTH
- 2 quarts of premade duck or chicken broth or water
- Carcasses of 2 or 3 smoked ducks, chopped into a few pieces
SOUP
- 1 pound of fresh mushrooms, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons melted duck fat or olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups rice
- Salt and black pepper
- 3/4 pound mustard greens, chopped small
- 1/4 cup finely chopped chives
- Juice of 1 or 2 lemons
Instructions
- Start by making the broth. Heat up the premade broth or water to the steaming point, then add the chopped up smoked duck carcasses. If you are using water, feel free to add a chopped up onion, carrot and celery if you have them lying around. Let this steep at the steaming point -- don't let the broth simmer or boil -- for 4 hours. Then strain the broth. Put a sieve over a large bowl. Set a piece of paper towel in the sieve, then ladle the broth through this into the bowl. Keep the strained broth warm.
- While the stock is cooking, preheat the oven to 375°F. Toss the mushrooms with the melted duck fat or oil and salt them well. Set them in a roasting pan and grind some black pepper over them. Roast for 15 minutes and then turn off the heat. Let the mushrooms continue to roast as you do other things. They can sit in the oven for up to 3 hours.
- About 30 minutes before the broth is ready, pour off 2 cups and put that in a small pot. Add the rice and another cup of water and bring it to a boil. Cover the pot, lower the heat to its lowest setting and cook the rice. When the rice has absorbed all the water, about 15 minutes, turn off the heat but leave the lid on the pot.
- While the rice is cooking, fish out the legs and carcasses of the ducks and pick off as much meat as you can.
- To finish the soup, add the chopped mustard greens to the strained broth and let them cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Put some shredded duck meat, rice and mushrooms in individual bowls and ladle over some of the broth and greens. Sprinkle chives on top and add lemon juice and black pepper to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is my favorite way to prepare duck now. It’s easy to make and compliments, rather than hides the taste of the duck. Everyone I had over for dinner loved it.
Hi there, Hank!
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing this wealth of recipes and stories. I really appreciate your approach to cooking and gathering ingredients–great stuff! When it comes to foraging, I’m still a novice, but this website has definitely inspired me to go further down that path, so to speak.
So far, I’ve only cracked into two recipes: the smoked duck (twice), which led to this duck soup–both just lovely. I’m certainly looking forward to the next!
Cheers,
Sean from Vancouver, Canada
Hi Hank, I’ve smoked a bunch of ducks but haven’t made soup with them yet, thanks for this!
Made this recipe after using the leftovers from this recipe: https://www.wenthere8this.com/sous-vide-whole-duck Be sure to read the comments from BobInAZ that is me and that is how I do it. Anyway, for two people there is usually a leg and part of a breast left over. Since I quarter the duck and cook the dark and light meat separately, the backbone and back ribs, neck, and ends of the wings are already butchered out before cooking, and I toss those in a stockpot that simmers overnight at 194 degrees, with celery, onions, garlic, carrots and herbs and then strain that through cheese cloth in the morning. This yields 4 quarts of awesome duck broth. The skin not needed for roasting on the legs and breast I render into duck fat (simmer on low with 3/4 cup water for 1 hr and strain through paper towel, easy)
So, I used the leg and quarter of a breast leftover and used this recipe. Had duck fat for the mushrooms. The duck is not smoked, it is sous vide, the stock is simmered and reduced overnight, and I use leftover duck meat, not the duck meat from the stock bones, which I discard. Like the author said… it’s jazz. Rataricious, you dig?
That was a beautiful way to use up some roast duck leftovers. The mushrooms cooked in the rendered duck fat were delicious. I used aragula/rocket and cooked the rice as described. Very rich and smokey. Would definitely cook again.
Very tasty. The mushrooms are a great touch. I deglazed the mushroom pan with some of the broth, and put the result back into the broth. And on a whim, I crushed a few cloves of garlic and zested the lemon a bit, and added all that into the broth toward the end, and I didn’t regret it. Chives might have been better, but I had scallions, and it worked for out. Very nice alternative to the usual carrots and celery chicken soup I often do with leftover poultry.
This is a lovely recipe. I used a roasted ruck carcass and added liquid smoke for supplement. Used foraged wood blewits and honey mushrooms and added thyme and wild nettle. Might be one of my favorite soup recipes now. Thank you for sharing!
-Sara
I live in Seoul, South Korea. Here, it’s easy to get the meat of an entire smoked duck (bones removed). I haven’t tried this recipe yet but u I can’t wait to do so. I’m planning to use boiled and lightly mashed mostly because the way most Westerners cook rice of downright sacrilegious and my partner would turn up his nose. I’m pretty sure I can find mustard greens here, but if not, I may have to settle for spinach. I’ll post about my experience later.
Phenomenal soup, make a pot with smoked goose wings every two or three weeks during the season
Smoked two ducks and used the carcasses to make this soup. The broth was phenomenal. I liked the soup but used much less rice than the recipe called for- cooked 1 cup and used less than half of it. Would highly recommend this although it’s a bit of work.
First time eating duck was yesterday when I smoked one that I raised. I used the leftovers for this recipe today. I used freshly picked radish greens and it gave that pungency you’re talking about. Had to use store bought mushrooms, and was really missing the citrus. Awesome recipe thanks so much, can’t wait to do it again.
Ah, ha! I’m making the soup today but didn’t know what I was going to use for mustard greens. I thought my only green options in the garden were leaf lettuce and spinach, hardly pungent. EXCEPT, I forgot I have radish greens in abundance that are ready to pull. Thanks for the excellent idea!
This was an awesome use of the left over smoked duck. One of my favorite dishes!
Made this when the in-laws were in town and they loved it. It elevated the wild duck to a whole new level. Will make again.
Just did this with the leftovers from my thanksgiving duck. So good!
Another Hank Shaw winner. My brother-in-law gave me a couple of Gadwall, so I brined them and stuck them in the smoker with the turkey for about an hour. Duck Breast Sandwiches and this Duck Soup (thanks Grouch, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo!) were the result. For the greens I added a pound of wilted Broccoli Rabe. Yep, this one is a keeper.
I forgot to mark 5 Stars above!
Easy to make and it comes out excellent! I made a few minor changes, as I couldn’t find a couple ingredients, but it was great. Arugula, and I had found chanterelles that morning so used them, and some bits of black trumpet and bok choy. If you already have the broth, it is REALLY easy. Try this!