No smoker required. All you need for this recipe is a regular stove or a barbecue. And, to be honest, you can smoke other things this way too, chicken, fish, even veggies!
A little while ago I attended a duck masterclass in Melbourne hosted by Luv-a-Duck and presented by Adam D’Sylva whom you might have seen on Masterchef or know him as the executive chef at Tonka and CODA.
See Also: Coconut Milk Confit Duck Legs with Yellow Curry
Aside from showing us how to bone a whole duck and how to cook the various cuts – duck is a red meat so unlike chicken it can be enjoyed slightly pink, Adam also shared a simple method for tea-smoking duck breasts at home on the stove.
The secret to this smoking process involves a few simple preparation steps and notes, and it’s utterly satisfying and addictive:
- Line the base of your lidded wok or pot with Aluminium foil. This is a must and will save you hours of scrubbing and assist with cleaning the hot caramel off the base, simply lift out the foil base when cooled completely and toss. I actually used an aluminum cake pot with lid and a round aluminium pot stand I picked up from Vinnies.
- Add sugar and plenty of spice to the mix. This will create a caramelly and aromatic smoke for your duck!
- If making this on the stove sure you have a powerful exhaust fan running on high! If yours isn’t vented to the outside, you can do what I did and tea-smoke the duck on the barbecue outside.
It took me this long to make it, but now that I have, I am officially hooked and I can tell I’ll be making plenty more smoked meats, fish and veggies at home.
Tea-Smoked Duck Breasts You Can Easily Make at Home
Ingredients
- 4 duck breasts skin on
- 60 g black tea leaves
- 1 1/2 cups Jasmine rice
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 6 dried kaffir lime leaves
- 4 star anise
- 1 teaspoon five spice powder
Instructions
- You may wish to slightly score the duck skin with a sharp knife on a diagonal - do not cut the meat.
- In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Line a bottom of a wok or aluminium pot with a double-folded sheet of aluminium foil that will cover most of the base - this is important to easily remove the burnt caramel rice mixture and save your wok.
- Place the mixture in the foil base, spreading evenly across the foil.
- Place a wire rack over the mixture, but make sure it's not touching the mixture, about 1-2 inches above is great. Place the duck breasts, skin side up, on the wire rack and cover with a lid.
- Place the wok over high heat - make sure your exhaust fan is running on HIGH and open a window or use a barbecue with a wok burner / plate. Heat on high, covered, for 5 minutes at which point the mixture should begin to smoke. Reduce the heat to low then continue to smoke the duck for a further 10-15 minutes for a more medium well result (see note above).
- Using tongs, carefully remove the duck from the wire rack and place on a cutting board. Slice thinly (or allow the breasts to cool completely and store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days - see note above).
- Serve over salads or with mandarin-style pancakes, spring onion, cucumber and hoisin sauce.
