Szechuan-Style Smoked Salmon - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup chinese rice wine
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons sugar or 2 teaspoons Splenda sugar substitute
1 1/4 lbs fresh salmon fillets, cut crosswise into 1- inch wide pieces
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1/4 cup oolong tea or 1/4 cup black tea leaves
2 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in
2 teaspoons water

Preparation

Combine marinade ingredients (soy, rice wine, ginger, sugar) in a wide bowl.
Add salmon and turn to coat in marinade.
Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.
Line a stir-fry pan or deep skillet and the inside of pan lid with heavy-duty foil.
Combine smoking mixture (brown sugar, rice, tea leaves, anise, cinnamon, peppercorns) and spread evenly in the bottom of pan.
Set a round cake rack over smoking mixture (Be sure the smoking element does not touch rack).
Remove fish from marinade and place on rack.
Pour marinade into a small saucepan and set aside.
Place pan, uncovered, over high heat.
When mixture begins to smoke, cover pan; reduce heat to medium-low and smoke until salmon turns a rich deep color, about 10 minutes.
Turn off heat; let stand for 5 minutes, undisturbed, or longer before removing lid.
Bring reserved marinade to a boil; add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring, until sauce thickens.
Strain sauce into a bowl, discarding solids.
If you plan to serve the fish hot, serve with the sauce on the side.
Otherwise, serve at room temperature with no sauce.