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This is a 2 part process. The bird can be steamed and refrigerated up to 2 days before smoking. Use an aromatic black tea like jasmine, lychee or Earl Grey for more flavor.
Tea Smoked Chicken/Duck
1 chicken or duck
1 inch fresh ginger root sliced
1/2 onion
3 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice Powder*
Salt and pepper
water
Smoke ingredients:
1/2 cup raw rice
1/2 cup loose black tea leaves or the contents from 4 tea bags
1/4 cup sugar
1 inch fresh ginger cut into cubes
2-3 tablespoons Chinese Five Spice Powder
Rinse the chicken. Rub the cavity with 1 teaspoon of the five spice powder, salt and pepper. Stuff the ginger and onion into the cavity and tie the chicken's legs together using kitchen string. Mix 2 teaspoons of five spice powder with a teaspoon of water to make a paste. Rub all over the skin of the chicken. Set aside.
In a pot large and deep enough to hold the chicken, put a vegetable steamer basket upside down in the bottom. Add enough water to come half way up the basket's sides. Put the chicken on top of the steamer. Bring the water to a boil. Cover and steam for 1 hour. You may have to add more water periodically. Once cooked, cool and remove from pot and refrigerate or immediately smoke.
DO NOT THROW AWAY THE COOKING LIQUID!!!!!! This is excellent chicken broth and will make a delicious faux-wonton soup, hot and sour soup or egg drop soup. Strain it into another container and refrigerate it over night. Skim off the fat. Freeze it if you cannot use it immediately.
To smoke:
Combine all the smoking ingredients together. Put in a heat proof container (a disposable aluminum cake pan or aluminum foil folded up into a cup-shape). Set aside.
Untie the chickens legs and remove the ginger and onion from the cavity.
If you are using a charcoal grill, rake the coals to one side of the grill. Put the container with the smoking ingredients directly over the coals. Put on the rack. Position the chicken on the "cold" side of the grill (away from the coals). Put the grill cover on the grill. Position the vent holes over the chicken. Close the holes halfway. Smoke for 1 hour.
At the end of the hour, the chicken will be a mahogany brown color. Remove. Carve the chicken and serve.
*If you don't have Chinese Five Spice Powder, you can easily make it. It's equal parts of fennel seed, powdered ginger, star anise (or regular aniseed), cinnamon/cassia, cloves, and Szechuan peppercorns. But there was a ban on Szechuan peppercorns for a while. So if you have it, use it. If you don't, it won't detract from the taste too much.
Tea Smoked Chicken/Duck
1 chicken or duck
1 inch fresh ginger root sliced
1/2 onion
3 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice Powder*
Salt and pepper
water
Smoke ingredients:
1/2 cup raw rice
1/2 cup loose black tea leaves or the contents from 4 tea bags
1/4 cup sugar
1 inch fresh ginger cut into cubes
2-3 tablespoons Chinese Five Spice Powder
Rinse the chicken. Rub the cavity with 1 teaspoon of the five spice powder, salt and pepper. Stuff the ginger and onion into the cavity and tie the chicken's legs together using kitchen string. Mix 2 teaspoons of five spice powder with a teaspoon of water to make a paste. Rub all over the skin of the chicken. Set aside.
In a pot large and deep enough to hold the chicken, put a vegetable steamer basket upside down in the bottom. Add enough water to come half way up the basket's sides. Put the chicken on top of the steamer. Bring the water to a boil. Cover and steam for 1 hour. You may have to add more water periodically. Once cooked, cool and remove from pot and refrigerate or immediately smoke.
DO NOT THROW AWAY THE COOKING LIQUID!!!!!! This is excellent chicken broth and will make a delicious faux-wonton soup, hot and sour soup or egg drop soup. Strain it into another container and refrigerate it over night. Skim off the fat. Freeze it if you cannot use it immediately.
To smoke:
Combine all the smoking ingredients together. Put in a heat proof container (a disposable aluminum cake pan or aluminum foil folded up into a cup-shape). Set aside.
Untie the chickens legs and remove the ginger and onion from the cavity.
If you are using a charcoal grill, rake the coals to one side of the grill. Put the container with the smoking ingredients directly over the coals. Put on the rack. Position the chicken on the "cold" side of the grill (away from the coals). Put the grill cover on the grill. Position the vent holes over the chicken. Close the holes halfway. Smoke for 1 hour.
At the end of the hour, the chicken will be a mahogany brown color. Remove. Carve the chicken and serve.
*If you don't have Chinese Five Spice Powder, you can easily make it. It's equal parts of fennel seed, powdered ginger, star anise (or regular aniseed), cinnamon/cassia, cloves, and Szechuan peppercorns. But there was a ban on Szechuan peppercorns for a while. So if you have it, use it. If you don't, it won't detract from the taste too much.
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