Duck Confit

 

Who doesn't love crispy duck skin with succulent duck meat? This is go-to dish to impress my family and guests at home. 

Ingredients:

3 duck drumsticks

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

a few springs of fresh rosemary / thyme (or two teaspoons of dried herbs)

3 cloves of garlic (1 per duck), cut into halves, skinned on

a few slices of ginger

Method:

1. Clean the duck drumsticks and pluck duck hairs (if any). Dab dry.

2. Use the sharp end of knife to poke the skin of the duck drumsticks, including the fats on the meat side of the drumsticks. This is to help to release the duck fat during roasting. Avoid poking the meat beneath the skin. 

3. Place the drumsticks in a single layer (no overlapping) in baking/roasting dish. Rub the duck drumsticks with salt, black pepper and herbs (optional at this stage) , cover the dish in clingwrap and chill in fridge for at least one hour.

4. Gently rinse away the salt, black pepper and herbs from the drumsticks. Dab dry and place the drumsticks, skin side facing down, back into the baking/roasting dish. Place the garlic and ginger around and between the drumsticks. Sprinkle herbs on the drumsticks. Add some duck fat (if available) into the dish. Alternatively, add 100ml water into the dish to prevent the skin from sticking to the dish during baking.

5. Place baking paper over the drumsticks to trap the heat in the drumsticks. Then cover the baking/roasting dish with aluminum foil. Roast at 120 degree celcius for 4 hours. At the 2 hour mark, remove the dish from oven and flip the drumsticks around so that the meat side is facing down. Return the dish to oven and continue to roast for 2 more hours until the duck drumsticks are tender.

6. After 4 hours, remove the drumsticks from the dish and let it cool down until the drumsticks are sturdy.

7. Heat up a cast iron pan and some duck fat (from the baking/roasting dish) into the pan. Pan fry the drumsticks with the skin side down, over medium to low heat for 5 minutes. Gently press the drumstick flat so that more skin will be in contact with the hot pan, and therefore you will have more crispy duck skin! You can remove the thigh bone too in this step, for easier pan frying. Pan fry each side of the drumstick for 5 minutes or until the skin is crisp.

8. Serve hot with a plate of salad, or mashed potatoes.

9. You can reserve the duck fat for your next duck confit. Just strain the oil in the baking/roasting dish through a filter/strainer. If you had added water into your baking/roasting dish, follow this simple trick to separate the duck fat from water. Then store the bottle of duck fat in the fridge.