Tea Smoked Roast Chicken

TEA SMOKED ROAST CHICKEN

In a follow up to our previous post on Cooking with tea, we thought we'd share with you the recipe to our most loved Tea Smoked Roast Chicken

Tea adds a different flavor dimension to your dishes and this recipe is somewhat tried and tested.

Our experiments of cooking with tea all began in Cochrane Place, our family run hotel in the Darjeeling region. For those of you that are unaware, our tea company's journey started with the opening of our hotel in early 2000. Our location at the top of a narrow ridge offered panoramic views of the famous Makaibari, Ambootia & Castleton tea estates; hence it seemed only befitting to use Tea as an inspiration in our food. We initially began smoking the chicken and making delicious Tea roasted chicken sandwiches, as our confidence grew we started offering whole Tea smoked Roast chicken for dinner service. We continue serving this delicious dish at our hotel, and it remains a favorite for all our loyal patrons. So we thought we'd share this recipe with you.

It's a surprisingly simple recipe, using ingredients that are easy to source. You can replace the Lapsang Souchang tea with any smoky Oolong tea

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp Honey for marinade
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce for marinade
• 1 teaspoons sea salt
• 3- to 3 1/2-pound chicken
• 30 gms loose Lapsang souchong tea or Oolong tea
• 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup rice
• Asian sesame oil for brushing chicken
• Tea leaves for marinade

PREPARATION

1. In a dry, small, heavy skillet roast peppercorns & coriander seeds over moderate heat, shaking skillet, 5 minutes. Cool peppercorns & coriander seeds and with a mortar and pestle or in an electric coffee/spice grinder coarsely grind.
2. In a small bowl stir together ground mixture, sea salt, honey & soy
3. Pat chicken dry and rub inside and out with marinade. Leave for half hour.
4. Transfer chicken, breast side up, to a steamer and steam over boiling water, covered, 25 minutes, or until chicken is just cooked through.
5. While chicken is steaming, line bottom and lid of a wok with heavy-duty foil. In wok stir together loose tea, brown sugar & rice until combined well.
6. Arrange a metal rack about 2 inches above tea mixture and transfer chicken, breast side up, to rack in wok. Heat wok, covered, over moderately high heat until wisps of smoke begin to appear, 2 to 3 minutes, and smoke chicken, covered, 6 minutes. Turn chicken over and smoke, covered, 6 minutes more. Remove wok from heat and let chicken stand, covered, 15 minutes.
7. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and brush lightly with oil