Sharmila on Food

Sichuan tea-smoked duck legs - don’t try this at home?

This little kitchen adventure is a tricky one to blog.  I mean, yes, these duck legs turned out to be very tasty indeed.  But, but.  Was it really worth the pain to my eyes, nose and throat?  Was it worth the respiratory assault akin to something involving mustard gas?  Was it really worth enduring the lingering rancid smell of tea smoke in the flat for a week after?  Hmm, the jury is out on this one.  I must admit a lot of these downsides were my own fault.  I really should have got a tight fitting lid for the wok, but I was only following orders.  Anyway, maybe I go through this stuff so others don’t have to.  Though maybe  a smarter person would have realised that hot smoking meat indoors might be a silly idea indeed.

Anyway, as I said, the results were great - I probably fried the duck legs a bit too long, but it was tasty all the same - moist, succulent with a wonderful smokey flavour.  My love affair with SIchuan food continues.  This attempt was born out of deciding to up the ante a little by trying something a bit more complex - a recipe that involves marinading, a spot of wind drying, smoking, steaming and dry frying.  Well of course.

This recipe is an amalgamation of the one in Fuchsia Dunlop’s Sichuan Cookery, and one from here: http://bit.ly/8NtbGf.  Unlike Fuchsia, I didn’t have the guts to do a whole duck, especially when it came to the deep frying stage (whole duck, pan of boiling oil, my lack of hand-eye co-ordination - hmm, I think I know how that story ends).  Instead, I stuck to duck legs, as in Paul’s recipe.  I also followed his lead in knocking up a hoi sin sauce, primarily because I really wanted something sweet and toothsome to marry up with the duck.  Anyhow, the steps are below.  On balance, I would recommend this to anyone who likes a challenge.  Just make sure you have a tight fitting lid for your smoking pan - and don’t use foil.  Silly me.

This is a dish that you really need to start the day before - if it’s not obvious already, it’s best left for the weekend.

Sichuan tea-smoked duck legs

Serves 2

2 duck legs

For the marinade:

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp whole Sichuan pepper

a pinch of white pepper

2 tbsp Shaoxing wine

(Dunlop also recommends adding a tiny amount of saltpetre, I am assuming, to preserve the colour, but I didn’t have any)

For the smoking:

40g plain flour

40g white sugar

10g tea leaves (I used jasmine tea but I’m sure most loose tea would do)

For the steaming:

a small piece of unpeeled ginger

1 spring onion, white part only

For the deep frying:

enough groundnut or vegetable oil to almost totally immerse the duck legs in

You will also need some sesame oil for the final glazing

For the sauce:

a few tbsps of hoisin sauce

1tsp ground Sichuan pepper

1tsp sesame oil

a pinch of sugar

1 tsp of groundnut oil

a few splashes of water to amalgamate

Other materials:

I used a piece of muslin to tie the duck legs in so that I could hang them up to dry out a bit after marinading.  You could just stick them on meat hooks if you had them to hand

You will also need a means of suspending the duck legs above the smoking materials.  I used two small metal trivets I got in Chinatown for about 40p each.  You could also scrunch up enough foil above the smoking materials and place the duck legs on there.  The most ideal way would you be if you had a rack you could place on some trivets that would fit in your wok or other smoking device.

Oh, and just to say again, GET A TIGHT FITTING LID

1.  Crush and mix together the salt, Sichuan pepper and white pepper with a pestle and mortar.  Rub this mixture into the duck legs.  Then, rub the duck legs with the SHaoxing wine.  Leave to marinade for as long as you can, ideally overnight.

2. When marinaded, place the duck legs in a colander and pour a kettleful of boiling water over them to scald them and tighten up the skin (this will help it crisp up nicely).  Wipe the duck dry with some kitchen paper, wrap it in muslin, tie it up and, ideally, hang it up in a well-ventilated spot to dry for 4-6 hours.

3. Now, on to the smoking.  Line a wok (or any heavy bottomed large, deep pan with a tight fitting lid) with 2-3 layers of thick kitchen foil.  Mix together the flour and sugar and lay them over this base, and then scatter the tea leaves over the top.

4. Create your duck leg suspension mechanism (rack, trivet, whatever) over the smoking mixture.  Put the wok/pan on a high flame.  When the tea leaves are beginning to smoke quite a bit, place the duck legs in the smoker and then cover with a lid.

5. Smoke the duck legs for 20-25 mins, turning them over halfway through.  The duck should end up looking a kind of goldeny yellowish colour.

6. Lay the duck legs in a bowl that can fit in your steamer (you don’t want to lose the juices that come out by using a perforated steaming insert).  Slightly crush the ginger and spring onion with the flat side of a knife or cleaver.  Bring the water to the boil and cover and steam the duck legs for 40 mins or so until cooked through.  When cooked, leave the legs to cool slightly.

7. Heat enough oil to almost submerge the legs in a deep vessel.  You need to get the temperature to around 180 degrees C.  Be careful that you don’t overheat the oil.  Lower the duck legs in and fry for four minutes.  Gently turn over and then fry the other side for four minutes again.  Remove, and drain on kitchen paper.  Brush the skin with a small amount of sesame oil.

8. Combine the sauce ingredients.  To serve, you can chop up the duch legs into pieces, or eat it whole.  We had it with rice, and mighty tasty it was too.