Tea Smoked Chicken

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The year-end mood has hit me hard. What more with just four more working days left for the year and a cold, damp Christmas awaiting me in Dublin. At the last moment when I am about to plunge into the West, I instinctively craved to prepare an oriental dish.

Tea smoked duck is traditionally a Szechuan dish, maybe one of the more
popular minus the cuisine’s well-known fiery chilli and peppercorn
heat. Initially the slight weariness of smoking a chicken (the poultry of my choice for this dish) did discourage me. Better to leave all these to the professional Chinese chefs, I thought. At China Treasures, a restaurant in Sime Darby Convention Centre, they told us that the chef who prepares their excellent Tea-Leaf Duck dish spends all his time solely on it.

No risk, no returns. To minimize the risks, the gas stove was moved outdoors and an old overused wok was pulled out. Almost like magic, a glorious coat of caramel colour painted the pale steamed chicken that was placed into the wok earlier after 20 minutes of smoking.

And the returns. Succulent, juicy and tender meat with highlights of caramel tea eaten without condiments to appreciate the subtle infused-tea flavour. Next time, I will marinade the chicken overnight in tea.

Find out how to do it here and here.