Lilikoi Smoked Duck Breast

Lilikoʻi arrived in Hawaii in the 1880s and naturalized into the gulches, and the yellow variety in particular is aggressively tart — high enough in acid to stand up to duck fat, which most fruit glazes cannot. Sweet fruit on duck just layers richness on richness. Sour fruit cuts it, and that is the entire logic of this plate.

Duck breast is a fat-rendering exercise before it is a cooking one. Score the cap, run it through a short kiawe smoke at low temperature to get flavor into the fat while it starts to soften, then finish fat-side down over coals to drive the render and crisp the skin. The breast itself only needs a few minutes — treat it like a steak, not like poultry, and pull it medium-rare.

Ingredients

• 4 duck breasts, 6-8 oz each, skin scored in a 1/4-inch crosshatch down to but not through the meat
• Kosher salt and coarse black pepper
• 1/2 cup lilikoʻi (passionfruit) pulp or juice, strained
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp shoyu
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 small shallot, minced fine
• 2 Tbsp cold butter, cubed
• Pinch of Hawaiian sea salt to finish

Cook Sequence

1. Score the fat cap in a tight crosshatch, cutting through the fat but stopping short of the meat. Salt both sides and rest uncovered on a rack for 30 minutes — dry skin is the difference between crackling and chewing.
2. Simmer lilikoʻi, honey, shoyu, vinegar, and shallot for 5-6 minutes until reduced by half and glossy. Off heat, whisk in the cold butter one cube at a time. Hold it warm; do not boil it again or it will split.
3. Set the pit at 250-275F with one kiawe chunk and smoke the breasts fat-side up for 15-18 minutes, to 105-110F internal. The fat softens and takes smoke here — this is the whole reason for the low phase.
4. Move the breasts fat-side down over direct coals and render 4-6 minutes. Keep them moving and pour off duck fat as it pools, or you are deep-frying the skin instead of crisping it.
5. Flip for 60-90 seconds on the meat side, then check temp. Pull at 130-135F for medium-rare — duck goes gray and livery past 140F.
6. Rest 8 minutes tented loosely, skin-side up so the crust stays crisp.
7. Slice on a bias into 1/4-inch pieces, spoon the lilikoʻi glaze over the cut faces, and finish with a pinch of coarse Hawaiian salt.

Round Out the Plate

• Garlic Butter Rice — soaks up the rendered fat and glaze
• Cucumber Salad — cold and sharp against rich duck