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Tea Smoked Chicken

This is an exotic smoked chicken using tea leaves as the smoking mixture. If you want to cook a roasted chicken but you want to taste something unique and special, I think you should try tea smoked chicken.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 50 minutes
Course: Chicken Recipe
Cuisine: Chinese
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 165kcal
Author: Manny

Ingredients

  • 1 whole medium chicken dressed (about 1 1/4 kilo)
  • 1 tsp. ground Szechwan peppercorn
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. five spice powder

Ingredients for smoking:

  • 1/2 cup black tea leaves soaked in water, then drained
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup raw rice
  • 3 chunks fresh ginger
  • 3 large strips of orange zest
  • 2 sticks cinnamon 3 inch long
  • 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • hoisin sauce
  • scallion

Instructions

    How to cook tea smoked chicken:

    • Wash the chicken and pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Lay the chicken on a flat surface and press down to break the breast bone.
    • Reach in from the rear and remove the breast bone by working your fingers between the bone and the meat and pulling it out.
    • Combine Szechuan peppercorns, salt and five spice powder in a small bowl. Rub the seasoning inside the cavity and outside the chicken. Refrigerate about 8 hours or overnight.
    • To prepare the smoking mixture, combine tea leaves, sugar, rice, ginger, orange zest and cinnamon. Then prepare the smoking pot by lining the inside of stainless steel pot with aluminum foil.
    • Put the smoking mixture inside the pot. Place chicken on a rack and place the rack on top of the smoking mixture inside the pot.
    • Put the pot on top of a burner set to a medium flame and smoke the chicken until the thigh juices run clear or you can also use a thermometer and cook it on a 160°F heat.
    • Once it becomes golden brown, remove from the pot and brush with sesame oil and cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.