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Susan Jung

Text Susan Jung / Photography Jonathan Wong / Styling Nellie Ming Lee
 
I'm a big fan of the French duck legs sold at City'super, which come from birds raised for foie gras. They're large and fatty, and also reasonably priced - a 400-gram leg is about HK$60. The obvious thing to make from duck legs is confit, but they're also delicious when braised or made into a rich pasta sauce such as this one.
 
Duck leg ragu with home-made pappardelle 
Trim off as much excess fat and skin from the duck leg as possible, leaving behind only the skin that covers the meat. (Don't throw away the excess fat and skin; chop it into small pieces and cook it with a little water over a low flame for several hours, or until the fat renders out. Use the fat to sauté meats or vegetables, or to make duck-fat roasted potatoes.)
 
For the ragu: 
3 large, meaty duck legs, about 400 grams each, trimmed of excess fat and skin (the trimmed duck legs should weigh about 320 grams each) 
1 large onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 large carrot (about 300 grams), diced
2 celery stalks, diced
250ml dry white wine
300 grams red cherry tomatoes (I use the small local tomatoes), diced
200ml unsalted chicken stock, preferably home-made
1-2 thyme sprigs, depending on size
About 30 grams freshly grated parmesan, plus more for sprinkling
Sugar, as needed
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cooking oil, as needed
 
For the pappardelle:
400 grams plain (all-purpose) flour
¼ tsp fine sea salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
 
Make the pasta dough first, so it can rest while the sauce is simmering. Mix the flour with the salt in a large bowl. Whisk the eggs and mix them into the flour. Knead it firmly to make a rough but cohesive dough. If it's too damp, add a little more flour; if it's too dry, sprinkle with a few drops of water. Divide the dough into six pieces, wrap them tightly in cling-film and leave at room temperature to rest.
Cut a shallow cross-hatch pattern over the duck skin, taking care not to cut all the way down to the meat. Very lightly coat a deep pan (preferably enamelled cast iron) with cooking oil and set it over a medium flame. When the pan is hot, add the duck legs skin-side down and brown them to render out some of the fat. Turn over the duck legs and very lightly brown the meaty side. Remove the duck legs from the pan. There should be about 30ml of fat in the pan; if there's too much, pour off some of it. If there's not enough, add some oil.
Heat the fat over a low flame then add the onion, garlic and a sprinkling of salt. Cook over a low flame until soft and translucent, then add the carrot and celery. Mix to coat with the fat (if there's not enough, add more of the duck fat or oil) and cook for about three minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat then add the white wine and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about five minutes, then stir in the cherry tomatoes and a sprinkling of salt. Cook over a medium flame until the tomatoes start to soften then stir in the chicken stock. Bring to the boil then add the duck legs and any juices they might have released. Add a thyme sprig or two then bring to the boil and lower the heat. Cover the pan with the lid and cook at a low simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook until the meat is very tender and starting to pull away from the bone (about two hours). Take the duck legs from the pan and shred the meat (if you like, you can discard the duck skin or finely chop it and add it back to the pan). Discard the bones and stir the meat into the sauce. If the sauce is too thin, simmer it, uncovered, until it reduces to a nice consistency that will coat the pasta. Keep the sauce hot over a very low flame and stir it occasionally while preparing the pasta.
Working with one piece of dough at a time, knead it by passing it through the widest setting of the pasta machine, folding it each time into thirds, turning it 90 degrees and rolling it again. When the dough is smooth, start rolling it thinner until you reach the narrowest setting on the machine. Leave the pasta sheet to dry slightly while working with the rest of the dough.
After all the dough has been rolled as thinly as possible, take the first sheet of pasta and lightly fold it over itself several times (if it seems damp, dust it with flour, so it doesn't stick). Cut the pasta sheet into 2cm widths then unroll the pasta ribbons. Dust them with flour, shape them into rough, loose nests and place them on the work space while cutting the remaining dough.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add as much pasta as needed to the water and cook until slightly firmer than al dente, then drain.
Stir 30 grams of parmesan into the pasta sauce and add some black pepper. Taste the sauce for seasoning, and add more salt, if needed. If the sauce is acidic, stir in about a teaspoon of sugar, or enough so the flavours are balanced.
Heat the pasta in the simmering sauce. Use a wooden spoon to carefully lift the pasta (which is fragile) from the sauce, then put it on plates. Ladle more sauce on top of each portion, then sprinkle with grated or shaved parmesan before serving.
Any remaining uncooked pasta can be stored in ziplock bags (in loose nests) and frozen.


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Susan Jung's recipe for duck leg ragu with home-made pappardelle

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Forget predictable confit - transform your delicious, fatty duck legs into something wonderful


Forget predictable confit - transform your delicious, fatty duck legs into something wonderful - a rich pasta sauce.


Susan Jung's recipe for duck leg ragu with home-made pappardelle

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Forget predictable confit - transform your delicious, fatty duck legs into something wonderful

Forget predictable confit - transform your delicious, fatty duck legs into something wonderful