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Duck Leg Confit
Asian Style Duck Leg Confit on a Chinese Herbal Risotto
recipe fileappetizersasian style duck leg confit on a Chinese herbal risotto
Asian Style Duck Leg Confit on a Chinese Herbal Risotto
Ingredients
12 pieces duck ( if in europe you can use a force fed one, in Asia I like to use the same variety as used for Chinese roast duck ) basically you want something with a good amount of meat and fat
on it.
2 liter melted duck fat
300 gram coarse sea salt
2 pieces ginger flower stem
2 pieces lemongrass, crushed with the flat side of a cleaver or large knife
1 sprig kaffir lime leaf
2-4 pieces fresh chili, I prefer what is called chili padi or bird's chili ( small tiny things that are very spicy but have a lot of flavor )
1 bunch coriander root
12 portion Chinese herbal risotto
0.4 liter Duck sauce


Asian Style Duck Leg Confit on
a Chinese Herbal Risotto

Recipe by
Rainer Zinngrebe



Mix the duck legs with the coarse sea salt well and cover with a towel. Refrigerate for 12 - 14 hours. Remove the duck from the salt and wipe off the excess salt and salty juices with a cloth. Take a pot that can easily hold the 12 duck legs and where you have still about 15 cm space to the rim.

Pour in the duck fat, add the duck legs and all the other ingredients. Place on low heat and leave to simmer very slowly for about 1 ½ hours or longer, skimming the surface now and then. To know if the meat is cooked take a wooden skewer and pierce it, it should go through like if you pierce butter then it is cooked perfectly.

Remove the duck, strain the fat and pour back on top of the duck, leave it to cool in the fat. Remove from the fat and leave the fat to settle for about 2 hours, then ladle the pure fat on to the duck meat making sure the fat runs in between them. You also have to make sure you don't ladle any of the juices, which at this time should have separated to the bottom of the fat, onto the duck as this will not keep. Keep the confit in a cool place until the next day and then cover with grease proof paper until you need it. It doesn't have to be refrigerated if you made sure there is no juices.

To reheat you can remove the amount of legs needed and bake them in an oven until hot or just reheat in some duck fat and finish off making it crispy under a grill/broiler.

Here it is served on a Chinese herbal risotto and duck sauce.

I have seen and eaten many different styles of confit over the years, but the best I have eaten is Pierre Koffmann's at La Tante Claire. This is an offshoot of that recipe which Adam came up with, by adding lemongrass, chili, kaffir lime leaf, ginger flower and some coriander root to the classic it adds an intriguing subtle Asian influence. You can serve this with noodles, rice, or whatever you like. I love pairing it with a Chinese herbal risotto and the multitude of flavours is absolutely astonishing.

 
 
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