Confit chicken bitterballen

• Mix the water with the nitrite salt and whisk it well till all the salt has dissolved.
• Now take the chicken wings and legs and remove the skin. You should be able to just pull it off. Keep the skin in your fridge for later.
• Then submerge the chicken in the brine and let it brine for 24 hours in your fridge.

The confit chicken

• After the 24 hours you can take the legs and wings out of the brine. Then place them in a vacuum bag.
• Also add the duck or goose fat together with the thyme and the bay leaves. Vacuum this a 100%. If you don’t have a vacuum machine you can also confit the legs in a pan that’s filled with melted duck or goose fat. Just insure that they are submerged.
• Cook the chicken sous-vide at 90 °C (194 °F) for about 3 hours. You should be able to press the meat off the bone.
• Then take the wings and legs out of the bag and when still hot clean the meat by removing the bones, herbs and any other unwanted parts. Once cleaned chop the meat into fine pieces. Transfer it into a bowl and set it aside for later. 

The bitterbals

• Melt the butter on a medium heat. When it has melted add the flour and while stirring cook the flour for 2 to 3 minutes. This will give the base more strength and give a lovely nutty flavor.
• Now while stirring in two or three parts add the chicken broth from before and bring the base to a boil in between. This prevent lumps from forming. Once all the broth is added you need to boil it once more.
• Then add the chopped confit chicken and mix it well till it’s an even mix. Season it with some black pepper, sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar and if needed salt.
• When you’re happy with the flavor you can fill the bottom half of a sphere mold. Click here for more information.
• Then level it and close the mold with the top half. Now fill it completely. You could also shape them without the mold once the mixture has cooled down, but this just insures an even tight end result and it’s a massive timesaver. Level the top and then freeze them till solid.
• Later we finish the bitterbals with some chicken skin bread crumbs.

• Place the chicken skin on your worktop and scrape all the fat off with a pallet knife. Once they’re clean you can spread it on a silicon sheet. You really need to give some pressure to remove all the fat, so use a strong pallet knife so it doesn’t break.
• Then place another sheet and metal tray on top and bake the chicken skin at 180 °C (356 °F) for about 40 minutes. You want a lovely golden crispy skin.
• Now let it cool down before you can chop it into a fine crumble. Then transfer it on a metal tray and add some breadcrumbs. We use a 1 to 1 ratio. Mix it well.
• After that remove the top part of the frozen mold and trim the top of the bitterbals when necessary. Take all of the balls out of the mold and roll them between your hands to tighty them up. 
• Then we can breadcrumb the bitterbals. First add a layer of flour on all the balls and remove any excess flour by rolling the balls between your hands.
• Now cover them with a layer of beaten egg before placing them in the chicken skin breadcrumbs. Do this with a tweezer while moving the breadcrumbs to get the best result without making your hands dirty.
• Lay them all on a tray and freeze them for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Repeat this process once more, only then without the flour. Then keep them in your freezer for later. 
• To finish the bitterballen deep fry them at 180 °C (356 °F) for about 3 minutes till golden brown.