Smoked Ox Tongue (thing)

It might sound nasty, but it tastes good. I like tongue. Food-wise, Ox and pig tongue is the best. Goes well with some soy sauce and rice. The texture of tongue is different to other meats, somewhat smoother. Don't flavor it too heavily IMHO, because it has taste of its own. Chinese red tea goes well with it, but Chinese tea goes well with almost any Chinese food. Drink lots of it, because it is good for you. Tea also smells very good. Smoked Ox Tongue is a dinner dish. You can buy it at some butchers, but if you can't find it go to Chinatown, infallible source of exotic foods.

Ingredients

• 1 ox tongue (duh!), about 2.5 pounds
• 4 tablespoons salt
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons of oil, for brushing the tongue

Cooking

1. Put tongue in a big pot and cover it with warm water. Boil the water, then lower the heat and let it simmer for 1.5 hours.
2. Discard the water and peel the skin off the tongue (yeah, it's pretty nasty)
3. Put it back in the pot and replace the water, then add the salt. Boil and simmer for one hour. Take it out and let it cool.
4. Line the bottom of a wok with foil. Place brown sugar on foil, then put a rack in the wok over the sugar.
5. Brush the oil on the tongue and put it on the rack.
6. Turn on the heat until the sugar begins to smoke. Cover the wok. Turn the heat down and let it smoke for 10 minutes.
7. Brush it again with oil, then smoke the other side of the tongue for 10 more minutes. Turn off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes. It is preferably served cold.