Sichuan Tea-Smoked Duck and vegetables

Photographer: Kate
Serves 4

For me there is a real excitement about being in an asian market where there are all kinds of incredible yet unidentifiable ingredients.  With the aid of a bit of google searching I quite often leave these markets with a handful of questionable yet quirky ingredients.  Over time the scope of ingredients in my culinary repertoire has expanded thanks to this random selection process.   To be fair there have definitely been some epic failures as defined by my tastebuds but that just adds to the adventure.

This duck dish is delicious and is a testament to how a few unconventional ingredients (and I have  tried to keep thing fairly tame here) used in an unconventional manner can create something subtly different delicious and fun to prepare.  If you are lucky enough to have an induction cooktop, it’s amazing how this method gives the duck super crispy skin – I mean if you are going to eat it it might as well be smashingly good, golden and crisp right?

INGREDIENTS

Duck
1 tbsp flaky salt
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 large boneless skin-on duck breasts
2 tbsp shaoxing (Chinese cooking) wine
1⁄2 cup red rice
1⁄2 cup loose-leaf jasmine tea
1⁄4 cup packed brown sugar
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick

Stir fried vegetables
2 tsp. peanut oil
220g (1lb) mushrooms (shitake, enoki, oyster)
500g (2 1/2lb) mixed Asian greens, trimmed and quartered lengthwise
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 (2″) piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 fresh small Thai red chillies, thinly sliced
1 cup mung bean sprouts

METHOD


1. Grind salt and peppercorns to a fine powder.
2. Sprinkle the spice over the duck breasts then cover and chill for 4 hours.
3. Rinse duck and pat completely dry with paper towels, place on a small round rack that will fit into the bottom of the wok above the smoking mixture. Allow to air dry for an hour or two.
5. Line bottom of a flat bottomed wok with aluminum foil. Pile rice, tea, brown sugar, star anise and cinnamon onto the foil and place the rack with duck over the top.
6. Place over high heat until you see wisps of smoke, 3–5 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to medium; smoke duck until cooked to desired doneness, 25–30 minutes for medium-rare.
8.Heat a large skillet over high heat – try powerboost on induction then reduct to 80% power once the duck is in the pan). Take duck and sear skin side down for a minute or two or until crisp and golden.
9. Remove duck from pan and set aside to rest.
10. Remove smoking mixture and foil from wok then heat over a high heat and add the peanut oil.
11. Add Asian greens, mushrooms, sesame oil and ginger and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
12. Add sugar, soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir through.
13. Add bean sprouts, mix thought and remove from heat.
14. Slice duck and serve in bowls over a bed of the vegetables.