Zhangcha duck, tea-smoked duck, or simply smoked duck () is a quintessential dish of

Sichuan cuisine Sichuan cuisine, alternatively romanized as Szechwan cuisine or Szechuan cuisine (, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), is a style of Chinese cuisine originating from Sichuan Province. It has bold flavours, particularly the pungency and spici ...

. It is prepared by hot

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have b ...

a marinated

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

over tea leaves and

camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel (''Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...

leaves. Some cookbooks and authors have used leaves and twigs of the

plant in smoking due to the dish's name, but this is a misunderstanding. Due to its complicated preparation, Zhangcha duck was eaten more often at banquets or festive events than as a daily household dish.

Preparation

The duck is first marinated for several hours with a rub containing a typical combination of whole or crushed Sichuan pepper, ''

huangjiu ''Huangjiu'' (), meaning yellow wine, is a Chinese alcoholic beverage, and is most popular in the Jiangnan area. ''Huangjiu'' is brewed by mixing boiled grains including rice, glutinous rice or millet with qū as starter culture, followed by ...

'' or ''

baijiu ''Baijiu'' (), also known as ''shaojiu'' (/), is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Each type of baijiu uses its own type of ''qū'' for fermentation to create a distinct and charact ...

'' (fermented or distilled

Chinese wine Wine ( Chinese: ''pútáojiǔ'' lit. "grape alcohol") has a long history in China. Although long overshadowed by ''huangjiu'' (sometimes translated as "yellow wine") and the much stronger distilled spirit ''baijiu'', wine consumption has g ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...

, and salt, with much of it rubbed inside the cavity of the duck. For intensity of taste, sometimes the marinade rub is augmented with choujiu,

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...

, tea leaves, and camphor leaves. Following the marination, the duck is quickly blanched in hot water to tighten the skin, and then towel and air dried. This step ensures that the skin of the duck will not turn bitter during smoking. A wok is then prepared for smoking the duck with

black tea Black tea, also translated to red tea in various East Asian languages, is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from ...

leaves. Following a smoke treatment of approximately 10–15 minutes, the duck is then steamed for another 10 minutes before being

deep fried Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow oil used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. Norma ...

in vegetable oil until its skin is crisp. The duck is consumed wrapped in clam-shaped buns called ''

gua bao The ''gua bao'' (), also known as pork belly bun, ambiguously as bao, or erroneously as bao bun, is a type of lotus leaf bun () originating from Fujian cuisine. It is a popular snack in Taiwan and is commonly sold at night markets and restaura ...

''.

References

{{Sichuan cuisine Sichuan cuisine Duck dishes Smoked meat Tea dishes

Preparation

See also

References