"Simply Ming" On Tea-Spice Rubs

I knew that tea was good for smoking meats, but I never thought of using it as a dry rub. The recipe calls for an incredible amount of tea though.

Cameron

"Cameron Lewis"

I agree, it does seem like a lot, although it depends on how much you like Lapsang Souchong. It's especially a lot when you consider that there's also a fistful of chipotle pepper powder as well, when is also smoky.

I'm going to pick up some LS this week and try a couple of the recipes next weekend.

I have a recipe for smoked duck or cornish game hen. It comes from 'Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook' and uses tea leaves with dry raw rice grains and various spices in the bottom of a wok as the source of smoke for the prepared poultry. If you get it too hot it smells like a house fire, but carbureted just right it is delectable. Let me know if you want the recipe. I have been reading this group a few xs daily recently. lw

Please post the recipe. I'd love to see it.

--Tom

-oo- ""\o~

------------------------------------ "Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." Terrance

The rub worked out really well. Very yummy. I used a bit less tea than specified, and some of the ingredients are not prominent compared to the tea and five-spice powder.

Great on steak.

Warren

That sure looks like a lot of red pepper flakes. Can you really taste the other stuff?

--Tom

-oo- ""\o~

------------------------------------ "Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." Terrance

Actually the tastes which were most prominent were those from ingredients which constitute a large proportion of the spice mix (the tea) and those which were of a finer texture (the five-spice and cayenne powders) probably because they adhered to the meat more successfully. Coating the meat with oil or letting the whole thing sit for a while might have made more of a difference.

I think you actually need a lot of tea (or need to grind it a bit) since large particles can end up falling off the meat.

Warren

One thing I failed to mention about actually cooking using this tea-spice rub. Make sure you have ventilation. Hot spicy smoke.