SERVES 4 AS A LIGHT MAIN COURSE, 6 AS PART OF A MULTICOURSE MEAL
This is an easy route to elegance. Through a simple process of marinating, searing, and smoking in a foil-lined pot, one gets exotically flavored duck meat to add to a salad or sandpot.
The process can be shortened to an hour or stretched out over a day and a half. The ideal is in between: Allow the meat several hours or overnight for the flavors of the marinade to penetrate, then sear and smoke it just before serving.
Reading through any of the smoked dish recipes will put you well on the path to a wonderful smoked supper, but here are a few extra signposts to help you on your way:
• Spread the smoke mixture over no more than a 6- to 7-inch area. If you spread it too thin, it will expire too quickly.
• Have the food to be smoked at room temperature (or warm from the steamer, if freshly cooked). It shouldn’t be cold or the coloring and flavoring won’t be even.
• Take care not to place the item(s) to be smoked too close to the edge of the pot or the lid. The heat generated by the pot and the foil will over-smoke anything too close to them. For your best shot at even cooking, station the food in the center of the vessel, with at least 2 inches free all around.
• If you’re smoking several small items, such as quail, leave at least a scant inch between them. Smoke, like steam, needs room to circulate.
• Remember that the less inside the smoker, the quicker it will smoke. If it took 10 minutes to smoke 10 quail, it will probably take only 5 or 6 minutes to smoke a half-batch.
• Wait until you see thick plumes of smoke in several areas of the pot before clamping on the lid. This can take upwards of 10 to 12 minutes on some stoves. Be patient. The sugar can take a long time to combust.
• If you’re a first-time Chinese smoker or are working on a new stove, count on the possibility that the food will still be very pale after the time specified in the recipe. When you’re ready to take a peek, uncrimp the foil with care not to rip it. If the food is under-smoked, spoon a wide hem of brown or white sugar around the periphery of the burnt smoke mixture, raise the heat to high and wait for the sugar to smoke. Replace the lid, recrimp the foil, and try again.
2 whole, boneless duck breasts with skin on, cut in half (4 pieces)
1 teaspoon Roasted Szechwan Pepper-Salt (page 5)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon thinly sliced green and white scallion rings
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
1 scrubbed small orange
2 to 4 teaspoons corn or peanut oil, for searing
SMOKING MIXTURE:
¼ cup fragrant dry black tea leaves, such as lichee black or rose black
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup raw rice
1 tablespoon Szechwan peppercorns
Several pieces cassia or cinnamon bark, crumbled
Several thinly pared strips of fresh orange zest, coarsely chopped
1. Cut each whole duck breast into 2 halves, keeping the skin intact. Remove and discard the membranes and cartilage from the duck breasts; remove the fillets and reserve for another use. Trim the skin neatly at the borders of the breasts.
2. Evenly sprinkle both sides of each breast piece with ¼ teaspoon of the pepper-salt, 1 teaspoon of the scallion rings, and ¼ teaspoon of the ginger. Lay the breasts, skin side up, in a single layer on a plate. Grate a light sprinkle of the orange zest evenly on top. Seal airtight and marinate at cool room temperature for 2 to 4 hours or refrigerate overnight. Let come to room temperature before searing.
3. Heat a large heavy skillet over high heat until hot enough to evaporate a bead of water on contact. Add 2 teaspoons of the oil, swirl to glaze the pan, and heat until nearly smoking. Add the duck, skin side down, in a single layer and sear it on only the skin side until golden, less than 1 minute. The breast will be 80 percent raw. (If the pan isn’t big enough to hold all 4 pieces, sear in 2 batches, cleaning the pan midway and adding additional oil.)
4. Line a 14- to 16-inch wok or heavy pot and its lid with heavy-duty aluminum foil, leaving hems of at least 3 inches. Combine all of the smoking ingredients and spread in a ¼-inch-thick layer in the bottom of the wok. Arrange the breasts, skin side up without touching, on a rack that fits into the pot and stands 1½ to 2 inches above the bottom. Set the rack in place over the smoking mixture and raise the heat as high as possible. Wait for the mixture to send up several thick plumes of smoke from different parts of the wok, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your stove.
5. Cover the pot tightly, crimp the foil hems shut, and smoke the duck breasts for 4 minutes. Turn off the heat (if the stove is electric, carefully move the pot to a cool burner) and let the pot rest undisturbed for 3 to 4 minutes. Lift the lid, remove the duck, and discard the foil. Cut into the thickest part of one breast to test for doneness; the duck should be rare to medium-rare. If raw, roast the duck to the desired doneness skin side up on a baking sheet in the upper third of a 400°F oven.
6. The duck is delicious hot, tepid, or at room temperature. To serve, thinly slice the breasts against the grain.
MENU SUGGESTIONS: Slices of the seared, lightly smoked, very rare duck breasts can be substituted in all of our duck sandpots and many, if not all of the chicken sandpots. Add the slices just before serving, when the sauce is at a near boil; the duck meat can be cooked through simply by folding it into the hot sauce off the heat and replacing the lid for a moment or two.
Cooked to doneness, ribbons of smoked duck breast are wonderful tossed into salads or featured on an antipasto plate alongside Chili-Orange Cold Noodles (page 396) or Dragon Noodles (page 391) and Ginger-Pickled Red Cabbage Slaw (page 61) or Orange-Pickled Carrot Coins (page 58).