Tea Smoked Duck BBQ Recipe
Friend of Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes & local BBQ enthusiast, Julian Wu, shares his delicious Tea Smoked Duck recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 whole duck about 1.5-2 kg
Rub
- 1 tablespoon five spice powder or ground szechuan pepper
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
Smoking Mixture
- ½ cup each of black tea leaves
- brown sugar
- raw white rice
- 1 cinnamon stick, crumbled
- 2 sheets of good heavy duty aluminium foil
Method
The night before you cook – butterfly the duck, by placing it breast side down and cutting along one side of the backbone with poultry shears, then open it up and flatten it out by pressing down over the breast bone firmly with the heel of your hand.
Take the duck and give it a rinse, them dry it inside and out with a paper towel. Combine all the rub ingredients and use it to coat the duck on both sides. Massage the rub into the skin and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, take the duck out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature about 45 minutes before you start to cook.
Prepare your Weber for indirect grilling, and while the Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes are lighting, prepare the smoking mixture. Combine the smoking mixture ingredients and wrap in a double layer of aluminium foil. Use a fork to prick a few holes in the top of the parcel so the smoke can escape (but take care not to pierce the bottom otherwise the mixture will leak and make a mess of your barbecue).
Place the duck on the grill, skin side up between the two baskets of coals over a foil drip tray and place the foil packet with the smoking mixture on top of the coals and barbecue at a moderate heat for 1-1½ hours with the lid on.
Test for doneness by moving the leg around. If the duck is near ready, you will feel the leg joint begin to relax and you should be able to move the leg around freely. Take the lid off and flip the duck over so the skin side is over the briquettes and grill for a few minutes to crisp up the skin if necessary.
In China this would be served with peppercorn salt, which is equal quantities of szechuan peppercorns and salt toasted in a wok or fry pan then ground to a powder with a mortar and pestle.