Camphor Tea Duck
A celebrated Sichuan dish made by marinating, smoking, steaming, and deep-frying the duck to develop a glossy red finish, crispy skin, tender meat, and a distinctive camphor-and-tea aroma.
Ingredients
fat male duck (cleaned duck)
1
Shaoxing wine
25 g
water (for blanching or smoking process)
2000 g
sesame oil
10 g
flower tea (smoking material)
50 g
Sichuan peppercorn
1 g
camphor leaves (smoking material)
50 g
ground white pepper
1.5 g
rice straw (smoking material)
500 g
fermented rice wine juice
50 g
pine and cypress branches (smoking material)
500 g
refined cooking oil
1000 g
Sichuan salt
10 g
Instructions
1
Marinating and Smoking
Cut a 7cm long opening along the back and tail of the cleaned duck, remove internal organs, trim the anus and wash thoroughly. In a basin, mix Shaoxing wine, fermented rice wine juice, ground white pepper, Sichuan salt and Sichuan peppercorn, coat the duck evenly, marinate for 8 hours, then remove, blanch in boiling water briefly to tighten the skin, pat dry, and place in a smoking stove. Mix flower tea, rice straw, pine and cypress branches and camphor leaves as smoking material, smoke until the duck skin turns yellow, then remove.
2
Steaming
Place the duck into a large steaming bowl, steam in a steamer for 2 hours, then remove from the steamer and let cool.
3
Deep Frying
Place a wok over high heat, add refined cooking oil and heat to 80% of its smoking point, put the smoked and steamed duck in and fry until the duck skin is crispy and fragrant, remove, and brush with sesame oil.
4
Plating
Cut the duck neck into 2cm long segments, place in the center of a round plate, then cut the duck body into 4cm long and 2cm wide strips (with skin facing up), arrange over the duck neck pieces, shape into the form of a duck, and serve with soft lotus leaf pancakes on the side.
