When I worked at River Cottage HQ, we used to smoke duck, rabbit and fish in a smoker made out of an old bread bin. It always felt like an exciting and alchemical way to cook, yielding incredible results, and it’s so simple, not least because food has been smoked since we first learned to cook over fire. Today’s recipe is my simple take on Chinese zhangcha duck, River Cottage-style and with a zero-waste twist by using spent teabags as the perfect fuel.

Tea-smoked duck

It was always fun cooking at River Cottage: in between cooking lunch for our guests, we’d do cooking demos and sometimes cooked to camera (I have a cameo at the end of this video of Gill Meller making smoked duck that was filmed more than 20 years ago!)

Zhangcha duck is traditionally smoked with camphor leaves and green or black tea, and while you can find camphor in some Asian supermarkets and online, tea alone does the job very well, too. Even still-wet spent teabags will work perfectly, imparting their incredible aroma into the meat. Brown sugar and spices add sweetness and complexity, while a little rice helps slow down the smoking process.

Use a wok or a thick-based pan for your smoker; you will also need a rack that fits inside and a lid (or tinfoil) to seal in the smoke. I used a rough steel pan, a steamer basket and a tight-fitting lid because I don’t keep foil in the house.

Once smoked, the duck tastes even better the next day, and keeps well for up to five days in the fridge. Serve with rice, steamed vegetables and soy sauce, or make a noodle broth with the duck carcass and top with the tea-smoked duck and some slow-roast leg.

2 duck breasts
1 tbsp rock salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tsp Chinese five-spice, or your own blend of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds and Sichuan pepper)

To smoke the duck
2-3 spent teabags
3 tsp brown sugar
3 tbsp rice
Optional aromatics – sliced ginger and/or any of the five spices named above

First, dry brine the duck breasts. Sprinkle them on both sides with the rock salt, brown sugar and Chinese five-spice, then leave for at least one hour, and ideally eight or more. Rinse off any excess salt, then pat dry with a clean towel.

Build your hot smoker in a wok. Put the wok on the hob (line it with tinfoil first, if you like), then scatter in the leaves from the spent teabags, the brown sugar, rice and optional aromatics. Place a wire rack inside the pan, then lay the duck breasts skin side up on top. Cover with a lid or foil and turn on the heat to medium. When smoke starts to appear, turn down the heat to low and leave to cook for 10 minutes, until the duck breast is cooked rare (50C).

To finish, sear the duck breast skin side down in a hot griddle pan for seven minutes, to render and crisp up the fat. Cook to 57C for medium-rare or 60C for medium, leave to rest, then slice and serve with pancakes and all the trimmings or plain rice.