How To Use Spent Tea Leaves To Smoke Chinese-style Duck – Recipe

When I worked astatine River Cottage HQ, we utilized to fume duck, rabbit and food successful a smoker made retired of an aged breadstuff bin. It ever felt for illustration an breathtaking and alchemical measurement to cook, yielding unthinkable results, and it’s truthful simple, not slightest because nutrient has been smoked since we first learned to navigator complete fire. Today’s look is my elemental return connected Chinese zhangcha duck, River Cottage-style and pinch a zero-waste twist by utilizing spent teabags arsenic nan cleanable fuel.

Tea-smoked duck

It was ever nosy cooking astatine River Cottage: successful betwixt cooking luncheon for our guests, we’d do cooking demos and sometimes cooked to camera (I person a cameo astatine nan extremity of this video of Gill Meller making smoked duck that was filmed much than 20 years ago!)

Zhangcha duck is traditionally smoked pinch camphor leaves and greenish aliases achromatic tea, and while you tin find camphor successful immoderate Asian supermarkets and online, beverage unsocial does nan occupation very well, too. Even still-wet spent teabags will activity perfectly, imparting their unthinkable aroma into nan meat. Brown sweetener and spices adhd sweetness and complexity, while a small atom helps slow down nan smoking process.

Use a wok aliases a thick-based cookware for your smoker; you will besides request a rack that fits wrong and a lid (or tinfoil) to seal successful nan smoke. I utilized a unsmooth alloy pan, a steamer handbasket and a tight-fitting lid because I don’t support foil successful nan house.

Once smoked, nan duck tastes moreover amended nan adjacent day, and keeps good for up to 5 days successful nan fridge. Serve pinch rice, steamed vegetables and soy sauce, aliases make a noodle broth pinch nan duck star and apical pinch nan tea-smoked duck and immoderate slow-roast leg.

2 duck breasts
1 tbsp stone salt
1 tbsp brownish sweetener
3 tsp Chinese five-spice, aliases your ain blend of prima anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds and Sichuan pepper)

To fume nan duck
2-3 spent teabags
3 tsp brownish sweetener
3 tbsp rice
Optional aromatics – sliced ginger and/or immoderate of nan 5 spices named above

First, barren brine nan duck breasts. Sprinkle them connected some sides pinch nan stone salt, brownish sweetener and Chinese five-spice, past time off for astatine slightest 1 hour, and ideally 8 aliases more. Rinse disconnected immoderate excess salt, past pat barren pinch a cleanable towel.

Build your basking smoker successful a wok. Put nan wok connected nan hob (line it pinch tinfoil first, if you like), past scatter successful nan leaves from nan spent teabags, nan brownish sugar, atom and optional aromatics. Place a ligament rack wrong nan pan, past laic nan duck breasts tegument broadside up connected top. Cover pinch a lid aliases foil and move connected nan power to medium. When fume starts to appear, move down nan power to debased and time off to navigator for 10 minutes, until nan duck bosom is cooked uncommon (50C).

To finish, sear nan duck bosom tegument broadside down successful a basking griddle cookware for 7 minutes, to render and crisp up nan fat. Cook to 57C for medium-rare aliases 60C for medium, time off to rest, past portion and service pinch pancakes and each nan trimmings aliases plain rice.