Duck Confit

All ducks are not created equal. Being in a hurry on Tuesday, I had stopped at a Chinese market in the Sunset to pick up a duck for the confit. This was a mistake. Being parked illegally (often unavoidable in that part of San Francisco), I didn’t examine it closely when it was pulled out of the case, and what I got was a very skinny duck of the type used in Chinese BBQ, one with lots of skin but much less meat than the typical domestic Pekin or Muscovy type. By the time I disjointed it, the whole thing hardly seemed worth the effort but I decided to go ahead anyway.

After salting the breast and legs away I rendered out as much fat as possible from the remainders. The poor emaciated bird didn’t provide much fat, so I added in some tasty goose fat I'd been hanging onto, and, to make up the necessary volume for cooking, a fair amount of lard. After 24 hours in the cure, the duck parts were washed to remove the salt, dried, and placed in a small dutch oven with enough fat to cover them. First they were brought to a simmer, and then spent the night in a slow oven (about 180 degrees).

This morning they were looking good! Tender but firm enough not to fall apart, they were transferred to a crockery dish and covered with the strained fat. I’ll let them rest in the refrigerator for a few days or maybe a couple of weeks before trying them.