CRISPY TEA-SMOKED DUCK
It’s beyond dispute that a perfectly cooked duck is a wonderful thing. Arguably, the Chinese’s signature duck dish is the Peking duck, a dish so famous worldwide that there are century-old establishments that serve nothing but the singular dish. Strolling through any of China’s cities and towns in the morning, it is inevitable that one will be assailed by the aroma of freshly roasted duck, tantalisingly slow-cooked in vast wood-fired ovens.
A less well-known variation, but not losing out in terms of flavour and popularity is the crispy tea-smoked duck. Perhaps an edge that it has over the famous Peking duck is its amazing fragrance. Adhering to an age-old recipe, Hotel Borobudur Jakarta’s smoked duck is initially braised in a bath of soy sauce and aromatics such as Chinese red dates, ginger and star anise. Next, the braised duck is smoked with handpicked Jasmine tea leaves till the wondrous aroma is imparted, before being served.
