TEA SMOKED CHICKEN

Sugar-Tea Smoked Chicken

1 roasting chicken (about 4 1/2 pounds) or 3 Cornish hens

1 pound coarse salt

1 cup sugar

1 to 2 Tablespoons Lapsing Souchong or Earl Grey Tea

3 star anise

1 to 2 Tablespoons herbs (optional)

Zest of one tangerine or orange (optional)

Wash the chicken or hens and truss lightly with cotton twine, folding the wings under the breasts.  Fill the cavity with salt and put the chicken in a glass or stainless steel bowl that is just large enough to hold it.  Pour on additional salt almost to cover.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for three days.  If you are doing more than one chicken, put all the chickens in the same bowl and cover with salt.

After three days, rinse the chicken under cold running water, making sure to rinse out all the salt in the cavity.  Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Immerse the chicken and simmer for 20 minutes.  (Simmer hens 10 to 12 minutes.). Drain well on a rack.

Line a very heavy roasting pan with aluminum foil.  The pan must have a very tight-fitting cover.  Sprinkle the foil with the sugar, tea, star anise, herbs (if desired), and citrus zest (if desired).  Set a rack inside the roaster over the sugar and put the chicken on top.  (Or improvise a rack by placing the chicken on 4 or 5 cleverly arranged balls of wadded up aluminum foil).  If smoking more than one chicken or hen do not crowd them in the pan.  Cover the pan tightly and out over highest heat.  Turn on the kitchen exhaust fan.  Leave the pan over the flame for 30 minutes.  Do not open the pan before the time is up.  Turn off the flame and let the pot cool for 20 minutes.  (Although a tight-fitting lid will help prevent the smoke from seeping out of the pan, you should plan to stay out of the kitchen during the time required to smoke the chicken; the smoke might become too strong.)

Remove the chicken from the pan, using tongs or a long fork.  Be very careful not to break the skin.  Drain the cavity over the sink and let the chicken cool on a rack.  The skin will be a dark mahogany color.

To slice the chicken, carefully disjoint the wings and whole legs.  Slice the breast meat, always keeping a bit of skin on each slice.  Slice the meat from the legs.  Leave wings whole to use as decoration,  the chicken is best sliced 2 or 3 days after smoking and will keep up to a week, well wrapped in the refrigerator.

Note:  Choose an old heavy steel or cast iron roasting pan for smoking.  Once used it is best reserved just fly this purpose.  To wash the pan, soak it in very hot water.  Use just steel wool, no soap, to clean.