Zhangcha duck
A plate of zhangcha duck
Traditional Chinese	樟茶鴨
Simplified Chinese	樟茶鸭
Literal meaning	camphor tea duck
Transliterations Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin zhāngchá yā

Zhangcha duck, or tea-smoked duck, is a quintessential dish of Szechuan cuisine. It is prepared by hot smoking a marinated duck over tea leaves and twigs of the camphor plant. Due to its complicated preparation, zhangcha duck is eaten more often in banquets or festive events than as a daily household item.

[edit] Preparation

The duck is first marinated for several hours with a rub containing a typical combination of whole or crushed Sichuan pepper, huangjiu or baijiu (fermented or distilled Chinese alcoholic beverages), ginger, garlic, and salt, with much of it rubbed inside the cavity of the duck. For intensity of taste, sometimes the marinade rub is augmented with choujiu, black pepper, tea leaves, and camphor leaves. Following the marination, the duck is quickly blanched in hot water to tighten the skin, and then towel and air dried. This step ensures that the skin of the duck has a crisp snap upon completion. A wok is then prepared for smoking the duck with black tea leaves and camphor twigs and leaves. Following a smoke treatment of approximately 10-15 minutes, the duck is then steamed for another 10 minutes before being deep fried in vegetable oil until its skin is crisp.

The duck is consumed wrapped in clam-shaped buns called gebao (割包).

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