Duck confit paella
El Raval, a new restaurant in the Austin, Texas, neighborhood of South Lamar, is named for a diverse, multicultural neighborhood in Barcelona that chef Laila Bazahm fell in love with when she was working in Spain. The food reflects the global influences that can be seen in El Raval, the neighborhood, as well as Bazahm’s own Philippine heritage.
East Asian influences are brought to bear in the broth for this dish, as well as the garnish.
She soaks kombu seaweed overnight in cold water.
Separately, she makes a broth of chicken and duck bones that she roasts with onions, leeks, carrots, garlic, and lemon grass, deglazes with white wine, adds the kombu-infused water and lets it simmer for four hours before straining it.
She makes a duck confit by curing the duck in salt, sugar, shallots, and garlic overnight and then cooking it in duck fat at low temperature for three-and-a-half hours.
She makes a sofrito by slowly cooking onions, red bell peppers, garlic, and tomatoes for three hours.
In a paella pan she pours some garlic-infused oil along with the sofrito and bomba rice, cooks it for a couple of minutes, adds saffron threads and then gradually pours in the kombu broth, letting it simmer and cooking it risotto-style for around 40 minutes. Then she finishes it with seasonal vegetables such as green beans and snap peas.
She reheats the duck confit, plates it over the rice, and garnishes it with dots of aïoli mixed with hoisin sauce and shichimi togarashi.