Smoked Oolong Tea Chicken

This chicken looks like grilled version but is not! It is being smoked under a layer of rice, sugar and oolong leaves mixture. The sugar gives it a caramelised colour and the oolong tea for its fragrance. Rice is added to prevent the mixture from burning...

lined wok with aluminium foil and add in tea leaves, rice & sugar

mixed well and place over rack

place steamed chicken over

Ingredient

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 stalk spring onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp soya sauce
• 2 tbsp chinese wine
• 1 large piece aluminium foil
• 3 tbsp uncooked rice
• 3 tbsp oolong tea leaves
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Wash and pat chicken dry. Marinate with spring onion, garlic, salt and soya sauce overnight. Turn the chicken occasionally to let the marinate evenly coat the chicken.
2. Remove spring onion and garlic. Heat up steamer and steam on high heat for 45mins.
3. Prepare a dry wok. Place over a aluminium foil. Add in rice, sugar and tea leaves and mix evenly. Place the cooked chicken on a wire rack. Cover the lid tightly.
4. Turn on medium heat and heat up for 1-2mins until a faint white smoke is visible. Turn down to low heat and continue to smoke for 15-20 mins. Be careful not to oversmoke. If the smoke is black it means the temperature is too high and will cause the chicken to have a bitter and burnt taste.

Note: Do not open the lid immediately after smoking, all else u know....ur kitchen will fill with smoke! hahaha....let it settle down for 10mins before opening the lid..spread the 1 tsp of sesame oil over the chicken. The meat can be shredded thinely for use in salad and sandwich!