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Soft tortillas stuffed with dry rubbed and oven-roasted pulled duck, slathered with the most amazing orange, tangy tomato, chipotle sauce and gratinated with a smooth cheese topping—creating the ultimate duck enchiladas.
This Mexican classic is re-imagined with a touch of French flair that combines a deliciously enjoyable duck enchilada with the definitive gallic dish of duck a l’Orange.
Duck enchiladas: a citrusy twist on a Mexican classic
These duck enchiladas douse succulent shredded duck with a hit of sweet citrus and smoky spice. Its piece de resistance, an enchilada sauce which is a fusion of a traditional Mexican chipotle roja salsa and a classic French ‘cuisine bourgeois’ bigarade sauce, the sweet and sharp orange jus customary served with roasted duck.
Enchiladas are a Mexican street food staple and one of many varieties of meals that use corn tortillas to wrap a sweet or savoury filling, a method of food preparation that dates back to Aztec times. The main difference between an enchilada and a taco or burrito for example is whereas a taco or burrito would be simply topped or rolled with a filling, an enchilada is served wet, smothered in a sauce. In its original form, it would have just consisted of a folded or rolled corn tortilla and dipped in a spicy chilli sauce.
Enchilada variations
Today, many varieties exist with a particular notable version known as Enchiladas Suisaz or Swiss-style enchiladas which were created by Swiss immigrants who brought their own cheese and dairy-producing methods to Mexico. These wrapped tortillas are loaded with a milk or cream-based white sauce such as bechamel. It’s perhaps this style of a baked enchilada with a meaty filling coated in smoky chilli and tomato and topped with a browned cheese bechamel sauce that is mostly associated, or certainly in Europe with the archetypal enchilada. Perhaps more standard in Mexico however are the Enchiladas Roja or Verdes where a rich red chilli sauce or green tomatillo sauce is used to douse the wrap. Queso fresco, fresh crumbly cheese or Queso Panela, a pasteurised cow’s milk cheese (a bit like Indian Paneer) is the more common dairy additive rather than a cheese sauce.
What chiles to use for salsa roja and enchilada sauces
Salsa Roja or red sauces are prevalent in Mexico and accompany many dishes. They can be made with an abundance of fresh and dried chillies very common in Mexico, but not so easily sourced elsewhere. The Guajillo chilli, which is the dried version of a mirasol chilli is fruity and rich and also has a milder heat it is the most popular choice to add flavour to enchilada sauces and stews. This dried chilli is often used as a paste to spread on meat before cooking to make beautifully authentic Mexican flavours. It isn’t however the easiest chilli to buy in local supermarkets. Ancho chillies on the other hand which are the dried poblano chillies are easier to source and also have an earthy yet fruity flavour which pairs well with many authentic enchilada recipes and is a great chilli to use.
Chipotle chilli in our duck enchiladas
It is however the chipotle chilli, a dried jalapeno that alongside many of the other ingredients used in a classic chipotle salsa is used in this duck enchilada recipe to really infuse the two cuisines of French and Mexican together seamlessly.
Chipotles are not simply dried chillies, they are also smoked, which when it comes to pairing with duck is not a new theme. Smoked duck is itself a wonderful gastronomic item, but here the smokiness from the chipotle comes with a side of spice too, something that a Vietnamese version of Duck a l’Orange already employs to great effect. A classic chipotle salsa roja recipe often contains red wine and citrus, which also, of course, adds a depth of flavour to many French sauces, and sauce bigarade is no different as it uses either red or white wine and orange to create this fabulous flavour.
A thread of smoke as well as citrus and rich red wine can now sew these two seemingly completely different dishes together to create this delicious duck enchilada with orange and chipotle.
Pulled meat for our duck enchilada filling
For this duck enchiladas recipe, we are using duck legs rather than a duck breast as we want to shredded meat for the filling, although this sauce is incredibly good by itself to serve alongside a seared duck breast if you want to experiment.
You will need one duck leg per person (you can also use pre-cooked legs or tinned confit duck legs to keep the cooking time down if you prefer). Using fresh duck legs, we first give them a dry rub with salt, pepper, smoked paprika and ground chipotle chilli flakes (or a brushing of chipotle sauce) then roast them in the oven for about 90 minutes until nice and crispy on the outside yet tender and easily pulled apart on the inside.
How to make duck enchiladas
Whilst the ducks are cooking, start the sauce by gently frying a finely diced red onion in some olive oil until translucent and then add some crushed garlic. Once the onions are soft and taking on a little colour, deglaze the pan with a dash of Grand Marnier. A little cognac works as a suitable substitute if you don’t have an orange liquor but you need the high alcohol percentage for the full richness in flavour. Next, add fresh orange juice, a squeeze of lime and a half of glass of a full-bodied red wine. Although lime is prevalent in Mexican cuisine, lime or lemon juice is used in a classic orange sauce to add acidity and cut through the sweetness of the orange. Reduce this liquid on a fairly high heat for a couple of minutes before adding the chicken stock. Next, turn the heat down a little and reduce the sauce for approximately ten minutes before adding good quality tinned crushed tomatoes and a tablespoon of chipotle chilli paste. The sauce will take a further ten minutes to simmer to a thick tomato sauce-like consistency.
Once the duck legs are cooked, remove all the meat, discard the bones and use two forks to roughly shred the duck into bite-size pieces, place the meat into a bowl and ladle enough orange and chipotle sauce over to fully coat the duck reserving a half to a third to top the enchiladas.
For the tortillas, you can use either flour or corn varieties but we recommend using two or three small tortillas per person. Simply place them on a flat surface and divide equal amounts of the duck and sauce mixture on top, either roll them into flutes or fold them in half and place them on a baking tray. Pour the rest of the reserved sauce over the top and dollop small spoonfuls of cream cheese, as well as, grated Monterey Jack or red Leicester cheese on top before baking in the oven for fifteen to twenty minutes or until nicely browned.
The tortillas stay soft and fluffy where the sauce and bubbled cheese is on top with the exposed parts going nice and crispy. Once cooked spoon out the contents on plates to serve with a little garnish of shreds of orange peel and fresh coriander/cilantro.
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Duck enchiladas recipe
Ingredients
- 2 x duck legs
- or pre-cooked duck legs and cook as per instructions
- 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon of ground chipotle flakes or a ½ tablespoon of a chipotle sauce condiment
- 1 teaspoon of smoked salt flakes
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 4-6 small flour or corn tortillas 15 cm (6 in) in diameter
- 4-6 teaspoon of cream cheese
- 40 g / ¼ cup of grated Monterey Jack or red Leicester cheese
Sauce
- 1 red onion finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic crushed
- ½ a tablespoon of Grand Marnier or Cognac
- 80 ml or 1⁄3 cup of fresh orange juice
- 25 ml or 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
- 80 ml or 1⁄3 cup of red wine
- 250 ml or 1 cup of chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon of chipotle chilli paste or half for a milder spice
- Garnish with a few fine shreds of orange peel fresh coriander and lime wedges
Instructions
- Place the duck legs on a baking tray and prick the flesh all over with a fork. Sprinkle over the salt, pepper, smoked paprika and chipotle chilli flakes and rub into each leg. (Or brush over the chipotle sauce if using a sauce.)
- Place the legs into a preheated 160℃ fan / 180℃ oven and bake for 90 minutes
- Start the sauce by frying the onion in some olive oil for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with the Grand Marnier or Cognac until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Add the orange juice, lime juice and red wine, turn up the heat and reduce for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and chipotle chilli paste and simmer for a further 8-10 minutes until a thick tomato sauce consistency is achieved.
- Remove the duck meat from the bones and shred using two forks, place in a bowl. Discard the bones.
- Add one ladle of sauce into the meat and stir to fully coat the meat.
- Spoon equal amounts of the shredded duck meat in the centre of each tortilla and fold in half or roll and place onto a baking dish.
- Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and dot with spoonfuls of cream cheese and scatter the grated cheese. Place into a pre-heated oven at 180℃ fan / 200℃/392°F and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese has gratinated.
- Garnish with coriander/cilantro, orange peel and lime wedges and serve.
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