A duck-and-rice specialty of Gambut, a town near Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. Local Alabio duck is rubbed with a Banjar spice paste and slow-cooked until tender, then grilled or roasted so the skin firms and chars. It is served on rice wrapped in banana leaf, often with a dab of sweet red masak habang sauce. The banana-leaf parcel is the dish's trademark, scenting the rice and keeping it warm.
Nasi itik Gambut is named for the town of Gambut in Banjar Regency, South Kalimantan, and is built around the Alabio duck, a local breed long raised in the wetlands of the Hulu Sungai area. Selling spiced duck over banana-leaf-wrapped rice became a roadside trade along the Gambut stretch, and the dish is now a regional marker of Banjar cooking. It is a settled local food tradition rather than a dated invention; its precise beginnings are undocumented.
Open the warm banana-leaf parcel and the rice is already perfumed with its grassy leaf scent. The duck is the centre — slow-cooked to falling tenderness, then grilled so the skin turns firm and faintly charred while the meat stays moist and deeply spiced. A smear of sweet red masak habang adds glossy warmth, the dried-chili sauce more sweet-savory than fierce. Rich, fragrant, and a little smoky, it is hearty eating, the duck fat soaking gently into the rice below.
Duck is tough and fatty, so the cooking is staged. A long, gentle braise or simmer in the spice paste breaks down the connective tissue and renders some of the subcutaneous fat, leaving the meat tender and seasoned through. The bird is then finished over fire or in a hot oven: high dry heat firms and browns the skin and drives Maillard and char flavours that a wet cook cannot give. Wrapping the finished duck and rice in banana leaf traps steam and transfers the leaf's grassy aromatics into the rice while holding the heat.
Variations
Alabio duck is traditional, but other duck is used where it is scarce. The bird may be grilled over charcoal or oven-roasted after braising, and the spice rub varies from cook to cook. Some servings come with the sweet masak habang sauce, others with a fresh sambal or a side of greens; the rice is sometimes plain, sometimes lightly spiced. The banana-leaf wrap is the one near-constant.
On the Palate
Where Nasi Itik Gambut sits in the Indonesian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 50 min active + 1 hour 40 min waiting
- 112 min
Clean the duck and cut into pieces, then rub with salt and lime and let it sit briefly.
- 212 min
Grind shallots, garlic, candlenut, turmeric, ginger, and galangal into a smooth spice paste.
- 36 min
Saute the paste in oil with bruised lemongrass and bay leaves until fragrant.
- 455 min
Add the duck and a little water and braise gently until the meat is tender and the spices have soaked in.
Watch outBraise the duck gently until the meat is tender and the spices have soaked in — this slow stage breaks down the tough connective tissue before the fire finishes it.
- 520 min
Lift out the duck and grill over charcoal, or roast in a hot oven, until the skin is firm and lightly charred.
Watch outFinish the tender duck over live fire or in a hot oven until the skin firms and lightly chars — dry high heat gives the browned, smoky edge the braise can't.
- 630 min
Cook rice until fluffy and, if liked, fold through a little of the spice oil.
- 78 min
Make a quick sweet red masak habang sauce by frying ground soaked dried chilies with palm sugar until glossy.
- 85 min
Pack the rice and duck onto banana leaves, add a spoon of the sauce, wrap, and serve warm.
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