On Dec 18, 8:06 am, Cookie1973 > wrote:
> I am in a contest to make the best bird. [snip]
>
> I am in search of the best chicken dish ever. I also need a
> complimenting side dish. I would like it to be impressive in taste,
> presentation, and complexity. [snip]

"the best ever" is silly, of course, but a contest is a
contest.....Here's a dish I posted in 1999 that you can make with
chicken or duck that is utterly delicious. Maybe if you try it with
chicken you will be ready to do it with duck. (You are going to
practice/do some trial runs for the contest, right?) If so, googling
for "tea smoked duck" should give you an idea of where this recipe may
have been simplified. (Seems to me I recall a process for duck of
steaming, smoking and then deep frying.) For presentation, chop the
entire bird into large bite-sized pieces, then reassemble on a platter
to look like the original bird. May be served hot or cold, which
might be an advantage in a contest. For a complementary side dish,
whole small Shanghai bok choy arranged decoratively on a platter with
shiitake mushrooms (dried, rehydrated, cooked) and served with oyster
sauce. -aem

Recipe is from "Madame Wong's Long -
Life Chinese Cookbook" (1977), with [comments] added.

Tea Smoked Chicken

1 3 lb. fryer (the best you can find; don't spurn one that's "organic
free range")
2 tsp. salt
juice from 1 slice ginger, use garlic press [or just use the
slice]
1 TB sherry
1 stalk scallion

Rub chicken with salt inside and out. (Do not omit this step).
Pour ginger juice inside (or put in several slices fresh ginger),
add sherry and scallion. Place chicken in bowl on rack in pot or
steamer. Cover, steam over boiling water 35 minutes. [larger
chicken probably takes longer] Cool.

Rub chicken all over with 1 TB light soy sauce.

Line the inside of a wok and the cover with aluminum foil. Put
2 TB black tea
2 TB brown sugar
2 TB uncooked long grain rice
on the foil. Place a greased rack in wok, and chicken on rack.
Bring to high heat. Cover wok [very] tightly and smoke the
chicken for 10 minutes, turning after 5 minutes. [Watch the
smoke alarm!] Brown both sides evenly. Smoke 5 minutes more.

Remove chicken. Brush with 1 TB sesame oil. Cut into bite-sized
serving pieces. Serve hot or cold. [Hot as a main course, cold
as an appetizer with a multi-course dinner]