Hoisin-Glazed Duck Confit

Confit duck legs with soy-ginger noodles 

I have been on a serious Asian-food kick lately, thanks to my strong drive to return to the Pacific Ocean Market on Alameda as often as possible. But: our camera is having issues so much of these cooking projects will live on only in our memories.
But: I started this duck confit before the camera got sick, so I wanted to include it.
To "confit" something means to slow cook it in it's own fat, thereby preserving it. Once cooked, it can remain bathing in cold fat in the fridge for months, growing duckier and more delicious with each passing day. I aged mine for about a week, then took the legs out of the fat, brushed them with a mix of hoisin, lime, and chili oil, baked them then broiled them.
The result was incredibly soft, incredibly ducky meat with crispy skin. I made a big batch of noodles with veggies to go with and we ate on the porch. A lovely night.

How can you walk past duck legs and not purchase? You cannot. 

I marinated them in soy, sesame oil, salt and sugar. 

Luckily, I had some duck fat on hand, reserved in the fridge from previous roast ducks. This tub of grease moved between houses with us.
Ultimately, I didn't have enough duc fat to cover the legs entirely, so I added canola oil as well. 

I cooked them overnight at 185. 

Then put them in a container and poured the fat over them. Left in the fridge for a week. 

Hoisin-Glazed Duck Confit

Ingredients: 
Confit
4 duck legs, or more if you have a large enough pot 
Duck fat. (This is a very hard ingredient to buy. What I do is save the fat every time I roast a duck and use that. If you don't have duck fat, you can use oil.) 
1 cup soy sauce 
dash sesame oil 
1 tsp Chinese 5-spice 
1/2 cup sugar 
4 TB kosher salt 
1 head of garlic

Glaze
3 TB hoisin sauce
juice of 2 limes 
1 tsp chili oil

What to do: 
Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, 5 spice, sugar, and salt in a ziplock bag or a large bowl. Add the duck legs and let the sit in the marinade overnight or for at least a few hours.
Take the duck legs out and shake the marinade off (but don't rinse). Place them in the bottom of a pot or braising dish, and cover them entirely with duck fat or oil. Slice the top off the head of garlic and add it to the pot whole.
Turn the oven on to 185 and put the pot of legs in. Go to bed. 
Wake up and jump out of bed, excited about confit. Run downstairs and remove the pot from the oven. Allow to cool for about an hour, then remove the duck legs to a storage container (I used tupperware) and cover with fat. Seal and refrigerate. 
Leave in the fridge for days or weeks. 
When you're ready to eat them, remove the legs from the fat. Shake off as much of the fat as you can and place them skin-sde up on a cookie sheet. Turn the oven on to 400. Mix the hoisin, lime juice, and chili oil together and brush onto the leg legs on both sides. Roast at 400 for about 25 minutes. Then, take the legs out and brush again with glaze. Turn the the over to high broil and put the legs back in for 3-5 minutes--you want the skin crispy--a little char is ok. 
Allow to rest for 5 minutes, then serve. 

I served this with a noodle dish heavy on acid, herbs and spice--the freshness was a great counterpoint to the rich duck.
It was DELICIOUS, and really not particularly hard. Will be making this over and over!