There’s no need to invest in a pricey outdoor smoker to make your own smoked fish.  A carbon-steel  wok, a round cooling rack, and your stove top will do the job. A mixture of jasmine rice and loose-leaf  green tea adds a subtle herbal note to this tea-smoked trout recipe.

Tea-Smoked Trout Recipe

Makes 2 filets
Serves 4-6

Trout, one12–14oz(375–440g),
Brown sugar, 2 tablespoons
Sea salt, 1 teaspoon
Freshly ground pepper, 1⁄4 teaspoon
Uncooked jasmine rice, 1⁄4cup (13⁄4oz/50g)
Loose-leaf green tea, 3⁄4teaspoon

Working from the cavity side, cut the fish in half lengthwise down the center, leaving the spine and bones attached to the fillets. Rub the
fleshy side of the fish with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and the salt and pepper. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Set a round stainless-steel cooling rack to fit inside a carbon-steel wok (do not use a nonstick  wok) and sits at least 2 inches (5 cm)
above the bottom. Pat the fillets dry with paper towels and place them, skin side down, on the prepared rack. Line the wok with a sheet
of aluminum foil long enough to extend beyond the rim by at least 4 inches (10 cm). Cut a second sheet of foil the same length and place
it at a 90-degree angle to the first sheet. Mix together  the rice and tea in the bottom of the wok, form into a pile, and sprinkle it with the
remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Cut a small disk of foil and place it over the rice mixture to form a barrier  between the fish and the smoking material. This will prevent  the fish from tasting overly smoked.

Turn on an exhaust fan and open a window. Cover the wok with a domed lid and place it over medium  heat. When the rice mixture begins to send up a few wisps of smoke (after about 4 minutes), place the rack holding the fish in the wok, re-cover the wok, and fold the foil flaps up over the edges of the lid to seal in the smoke.

Reduce the heat to low and smoke the fish for 15 minutes. Uncover and cut into the thickest part of a fillet with a paring knife; the fish should  be moist but no longer translucent. If the fish is not done, re-cover and continue to smoke for a few minutes more.

Uncover the wok and transfer the fish to a plate. Carefully lift the spine and bones from the fillets and discard.  Serve the trout warm
or refrigerate uncovered  until  cool. The trout will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Reprinted with permission from “Better From Scratch“. Photography by Alice Gao. Copyright 2014 by Weldon Owen Inc. and Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

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