How to Cook Duck Pastrami
Serves: 8-10
Preparation time: over 3 days
Cooking time: 2 hours
Ingredients needed to make Duck Pastrami:
- 4 lb boneless duck breast, skin on
- 2 large handfuls light smoking wood chunks, preferably that of cherry or apple
For the cure:
- ½ cup sea salt
- ¾ tsp pink salt
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp dark brown sugar
- ½ tsp granulated garlic
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground juniper berries
For the rub:
- ½ tsp granulated garlic
- 3 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tsp coarsely ground juniper berries
- 1 ½ tbsp coarsely ground coriander seeds
Cooking instructions for Duck Pastrami:
- To cure the meat, place all its ingredients in a small bowl and stir them all together until well combined.
- Tip this cure mixture within a large Ziploc bag and stuff the duck breasts within it.
- Flip the bag several times to coat the meat well with the cure and refrigerate for 3 days, turning it over a couple of times every day.
- On the 4th day, take the meat out of the bag and rinse it under cold running water to get rid of the cure.
- Transfer them into a large bowl and soak them in water for a couple of hours, changing the soaking liquid every half an hour.
- Drain them out into a plate and blot dry with paper towels.
- For the rub, stir all its ingredients together in a separate bowl until mixed thoroughly and rub it all over the cured duck breasts.
- Warm up your grill to 225 degrees F over smoking wood chunks and place the meat on top of the hot grill grate, with the skin side facing down.
- Grill them at low heat for a couple of hours, until they are cooked through and their internal temperature rises up to 165 degrees F, as indicated by an instant read thermometer.
- Transfer them onto a plate and allow the meat to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Carve out thin slices and serve.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
