Tea-Smoked Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze

13. February 2007 Chicken 0

Now I’m on a smoking binge. The pulled pork was such a success, I decided to smoke some chicken, too. It’s from the same article by Dana Bowen in The Times. This didn’t require the hickory-wood smoking chips, only ingredients I already had in my pantry. I loved cooking this because it turned out beautifully. The glaze gave the chicken a nice golden color and smoking it made the meat inside silky and juicy. It was perfect with some yellow rice and, you guessed it, pickled scotch bonnet peppers.

Ingredients:
1 chicken, cut in half, or in several pieces
2 small oranges
2 tbsps Earl Grey tea
2 cinnamon sticks
5 pods of star anise
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsps pomegranate molasses
Sriracha chili sauce, to taste
salt, pepper, oil

1. Zest one orange and peel the other. Squeeze out juice and save for sauce. Scatter the orange peels on a roasting pan with the tea, cinnamon sticks and anise. Put the rack on top and place the chicken pieces on the rack. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Place the pan on the stove over medium heat. When it starts to smoke a little, cover with aluminum foil by forming a tent. Smoke for about 25 minutes. Turn off heat and let it rest for 5 minutes, covered.
3. While chicken is smoking, make glaze. In a bowl, combine zest, hoisin, pomegranate molasses and Sriracha. Add some of the orange juice to make sure it’s not too thick. Set aside.
4. In a large skillet with some hot oil, cook the chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to low and brush chicken with the glaze using a pastry brush. Cook for a few more minutes until the glaze has browned a little.