Duck Confit
Duck Legs, Radish Cake, Sweet Soy, Chile Crunch, Duck Egg, Urfa Biber and Scallion
Chef Harrison Porter of Brasserie Brixton | Denver
Adapted by StarChefs | july 2022
INGREDIENTS:
Duck Legs:
Yield: 36 servings
250 grams garlic
Zest of 3 lemons
Zest of 3 oranges
50 grams thyme
12 bay leaves
20 grams five-spice powder
40 grams black peppercorns
2 pounds brown sugar
675 grams granulated sugar
2 pounds salt
36 duck legs
Duck fat
Fry Sauce:
Yield: 2 liters
100 grams ginger
25 grams garlic
100 grams shallot
530 grams tamari
190 grams mirin
45 grams sesame oil
90 grams miso
60 grams rice wine vinegar
Radish Cake:
Yield: 24 servings
200 grams duck fat
100 grams chopped ginger
100 grams chopped shallots
50 grams chopped garlic
1.2 kilograms shredded daikon radish
20 grams salt
100 grams cornstarch
700 grams rice flour
100 grams rice wine vinegar
50 grams sambal
Sweet Soy:
Yield: 2 liters
325 grams tamari
500 grams sugar
75 grams mirin
50 grams ginger
50 grams green onion bottoms
50 grams garlic
1 star anise
2 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
75 grams black vinegar
Chile Crunch:
Yield: 10 liters
150 grams dried chiles de árboles, toasted
1 kilogram dried guajillo chiles, toasted
1 kilogram dried ají amarillo chiles, toasted
300 grams Szechuan peppercorns, toasted
250 grams urfa biber, toasted
200 grams aleppo pepper, toasted
Canola oil
500 grams ginger
500 grams shallots
500 grams garlic
500 grams lemongrass bottoms
500 grams tamari
500 grams black vinegar
200 grams dried porcini powder
150 grams MSG
150 grams orange peel
To Assemble and Serve:
Yield: 1 serving
Duck fat
1 duck egg
Urfa biber
Sliced scallion
METHOD:
For the Duck Legs:
In a food processor, combine garlic, zest, herbs, five spice, black peppercorns, sugars, and salt. Blend until smooth. In a large mixing bowl, toss duck legs with cure until evenly coated. Refrigerate and let cure 24 hours. The following day, heat oven to 275°F. Rinse legs and place on a rimmed baking pan. Cover legs in duck fat and cook 6 hours.
For the Fry Sauce:
In a Vitamix blender, combine all ingredient with 2 cups water. Blend until smooth. Reserve.
For the Radish Cake:
In a pan over medium flame, melt duck fat. Add ginger, shallot, and garlic; sweat until soft and translucent. Transfer aromatics to a Vitamix blender then blend until smooth. In a pot, bring 500 grams water to a boil. Add radish and salt and cook until soft. Strain through a chinois, reserving water and solids separately. In a bowl, fold together radish, aromatics, cornstarch, rice flour, vinegar, sambal, and turnip water. Smooth radish batter out onto a greased, parchment-lined, half sheet tray. In a combination oven, steam radish cakes 30 minutes. Cool, then slice in 24 evenly-sized rectangles. Reserve.
For the Sweet Soy:
In a pot, combine all ingredients with 500 milliliters water. Bring to a simmer. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reaches a syrupy consistency. Strain through a chinois into a nonreactive container. Refrigerate until needed.
For the Chile Crunch:
In a food processor, combine all chiles. Blend until powderized. Transfer to a large, heat-safe container and set aside. In a pan over medium-high flame, heat oil. Add ginger, shallot, garlic, and lemongrass and sautée until golden brown. Transfer to a clean food processor and blend until the mixture forms into a smooth paste, scraping the sides every couple of minutes. Transfer paste to a large pot with 3 liters oil; bring to a boil. Pour hot oil over chile powder to fry the chiles. Let steep 30 minutes Using an immersion blender, slowly blend the mixture while gradually adding 7 liters canola oil, 100 grams Fry Sauce, and all remaining ingredients. Reserve.
To Assemble and Serve:
In a pan over medium-low heat, melt duck fat. Add 1 Duck Leg, skin-side down, gently cooking until duck skin crisps up, approximately 15 minutes. Flip Duck Leg, add 1 Radish Cake, and shallow-fry in pan, flipping so that both sides are crispy. Pour off and reserve duck fat, then deglaze with Fry Sauce. In a separate, nonstick pan, fry duck egg sunny-side up. On a serving plate, swirl together Sweet Soy and Chile Crisp. Place Radish Cake just off-center then place Duck Leg, skin-side up, next to it. Top Radish Cake with fried egg, then garnish with urfa biber and scallion.
