Tastes Of India! - Tea Infused, Wok Smoked Chicken!

Hey from EL The Cook!

Today we venture into the unknown with home-made smoking techniques using a well versed kitchen essential- TEA!

Tea is widely used as a beverage, however using it in smoking is almost unheard of. Tea is widely used in sichuan cooking methods in China. 

The Sichuan Hot Smoking technique involves marinating the meat in a rub or brine and then smoking over medium to high heat over tea of your choice, sugar and a bit of rice.

Smoking is usually done on an outdoor barbecue, however the home cook rarely has space to do this, so we discovered a great way of smoking in a wok!

Smoked chicken is a base for salads like our Smoked Chicken Orange Salad or mains like Smoked Chicken Espagnole with Baby Carrots and Fresh Orange, which are super delicious and amazing! Follow the links to try them.. 

One piece of advice though is to keep your window open, exhaust fan on full, and fire alarms down!

INGREDIENTS: (Serves 2)

(Marinade 3hrs + Cook Time : 30 minutes)

• 250 gm boneless chicken breasts
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil for brushing after smoking.

Brine:

• 3 Earl Grey teabags (or your favourite)
• 50g powdered sugar
• 25g sea salt
• Juice and zest (peeled off in thick strips, without the white part) of one small orange
• 250ml boiling water

To smoke:

• 1 tbsp each dried tea leaves, rice and sugar, mixed together

KITCHEN EQUIPMENT:

• Heavy Pan
• Wok with lid
• Aluminium Foil
• Sieve top
• Large bowl
• Pastry brush
• Chefs knife
• Cling Film
• Cutting board
• Griddle pan
• Serving Plates

METHOD:

Brining & Marinade:

• In a heavy pan,Boil 250ml water & cool for a minute.
• Add the teabags and stir a few times. Add the rest of the brine ingredients, on low heat and stir gently until the sugar and salt have dissolved (do not allow the liquid to boil). Once it has dissolved (this shouldn't take more than 5 minutes) remove from the heat, and add 250ml cold water and leave to cool down completely.
• Once cool, put into a re-sealable bag or a non-reactive bowl small enough for them to be fully submerged and leave to infuse for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the fridge (no longer than three, or it will be too salty)
• Remove from the brine, pat dry, and place on a wire rack or similar to dry out. Leave for another 1 hour for the brine to evenly permeate the chicken 

Smoking:

• Line the inside of a large wok with a tight fitting lid with foil - a double thickness if using the tea/rice/sugar mix.
• Put your smoking mix on the foil in the wok, and your chicken breasts on a rack above the smoking mix 

• Put the lid on the wok, and make sure it's fitted well. Turn the heat up to high, and wait for the first wisps of smoke to appear from under the lid (this will take roundabout 5 minutes), then turn the heat down to medium/low. Don't be tempted to take the lid off and have a look, or you'll lose your smoke!
• Leave the chicken hot-smoking for approximately 25 minutes, then turn off the heat, check whether they're cooked all the way through. If they're not, you can just finish them off under the pan.
•  The chicken will look a slightly unappetising dry light brownish colour initially, but once you're happy they're cooked through, take a pastry brush, and brush lightly with sesame oil, to transform them into beautiful bronze beauties!

Storage:

Tea Infused Chicken can easily be stored in the fridge for 3 days. 

So try your hand at smoking.. 

..your chicken that is, this week and follow our smoked chicken salad and smoked chicken mains recipes!