Chinese Chicken and Stir-Fried Summer Vegetables

Chinese Tea Smoked Chicken

This recipe was inspired by Cecilia Chiang’s book The Seventh Daughter.  Cecilia uses a wok to steam and smoke the chicken, but it is easy to do both in the Broil King Keg, and there is a lot less smoke in your kitchen!

One day before serving, season the chicken as follows:

1  4-pound chicken

½ teaspoon five-spice powder

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground white or Sichuan pepper

Rinse and pat dry the chicken.  Using a sharp knife cut along the backbone and flatten the chicken.  Mix the spices together in a small bowl, and season the bird all over with the spice blend.  Wrap well and refrigerate overnight.  At the same time, using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from an orange and lay the slices on a rack to dry overnight.  Place extra dried zest in an airtight container and freeze for later use.

The next day, light the Broil King Keg, and fill the diffuser pan with water.  Place the grids on the lowest level above the water pan, and lay on the grids:

1 bunch halved scallions

Thinly sliced, unpeeled ginger-root, about ½ cup

Place the chicken on top of the scallions and ginger-root, and maintain a temperature of 300°F for 1 ½ hours.

In an aluminum pan, combine:

1/3 cup black tea (we used organic black blueberry tea)

1/3 cup white rice

½ cup brown sugar

4 slices dried orange peel

Lift the chicken from the grids, and remove the drip pan.  Replace it with the foil pan filled with the tea mixture.  Replace the chicken, and set the temperature to about 325°F.  Continue to cook for about ½ hour or until the meat is cooked through.  Test for doneness with a meat thermometer. 

Stir-Fried Garden Vegetables

We used all the vegetables that were ready in the garden today:

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 shallot

2 small cloves garlic

1 jalapeno pepper

Yellow pepper

Small bunch scallions

1 head broccoli, cut into florets, and stems sliced

Handful green and purple beans

Handful sugar snap peas

Handful fresh baby kale

Handful cilantro leaves and stems

For the Sauce:

½ cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

½ teaspoon asian chili sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

In a large wok or skillet, heat the canola oil over MEDIUM HIGH.  Add the garlic, shallot, peppers, and scallions and stir for 30 seconds.  Add the broccoli and beans, toss with the oil, add a few tablespoons of water and cover to steam for 1 minute.  Add the snap peas, stir for another minute, then add the kale.

Combine all the sauce ingredients, and add to the wok.  Stir until thickened and until the vegetables are all tender-crisp.  Remove from heat and sprinkle with cilantro. 

Serve hot with basmati rice and sliced chicken.