Zhangcha Duck (Camphor and Tea Smoked Duck)

Ingredients

• 1 duck, about 2kg
• 3 tbsp fine sea salt
• 2 tbsp whole Sichuan pepper
• 1 star anise, ground
• 1 tsp ground cassia
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 40g ginger, sliced
• 4 spring onions
• 40g jasmine or black tea leaves
• 30g dried camphor leaves, or an extra 20g tea leaves
• 80g raw rice
• 60g brown sugar
• 1.5 litres rapeseed oil, for frying
• 12 steamed lotus leaf buns, to serve
• 4 tbsp sweet bean sauce, to serve

Before you cook

• Pat the duck dry inside and out and trim off the loose neck fat.
• Mix the ground star anise and ground cassia into the sea salt.
• Line a wok and its lid with two layers of foil, ready for smoking.

Steps

1. Warm a dry pan over low heat and toast the whole Sichuan pepper with the spiced salt for 3 minutes, until it smells nutty.
2. Tip the hot salt into a bowl and leave it to cool for 5 minutes.
3. Rub the salt firmly all over the duck, working it into the skin, the cavity and under the wings.
4. Put the duck in a dish, splash over the Shaoxing wine and tuck in the ginger and spring onions.
5. Cover the duck and leave it in the fridge for at least 12 hours, turning it once.
6. Rinse the cure off the duck and pat it completely dry.
7. Stand the duck in front of a fan for 1 hour so the skin dries and tightens.
8. Scatter the tea leaves, camphor leaves, rice and brown sugar over the foil in the base of the wok.
9. Set a rack above the smoking mixture and sit the duck on it, breast side up.
10. Put the wok over medium-high heat until you see the first thread of smoke.
11. Clamp on the foil-lined lid, turn the heat to medium-low and smoke the duck for 12 minutes.
12. Turn off the heat and leave the duck in the closed wok for another 10 minutes.
13. Take the duck out, wipe away any loose ash and check it has turned a light tea brown.
14. Sit the duck on a plate in a steamer and steam it over rapidly boiling water for 2 hours.
15. Lift the duck out carefully, pour off the fat that has collected, and leave it to cool and dry for 1 hour.
16. Heat the frying oil in a deep pot to 190C.
17. Lower the duck in breast side down and fry for 4 minutes, spooning oil over the exposed parts.
18. Turn the duck over and fry the other side for 3 minutes, until the skin is mahogany and crisp.
19. Drain the duck on a rack for 5 minutes.
20. Chop it through the bone into serving pieces and pile them on a warm platter.
21. Serve with the steamed buns and sweet bean sauce so people can build their own.