Ham Style Smoked Venison Leg Roast (Fish sauce brine with sugar)
Long-cured (5 days) venison leg roast with a rich fish sauce brine. Since the brine contains sugar, it will taste more like ham, and is good as a cold cut. (Pink salt is optional)
Seasonings (pick and choose your favorites or make your own blend)
2dried bay leaves
23 inch strips orange peel use a vegetable peeler to do this
1small onionchopped
2large cloves garlicminced or grated
1rib celerychopped
1carrotchopped
1 ozfresh gingersliced
Spices (pick and choose your favorites or make your own blend)
1 Tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns optional
1teaspoonblack pepper corns
1teaspoon whole allspice
10 cloves
Instructions
Brine
Toast the spices then crush roughly in a mortar and pestle. Bring the brine ingredients to a boil then cool completely.
Submerge the venison roast in the brine in a small pot or similar container (or a thick plastic bag set into a flat tray or Tupperware to prevent spills). Refrigerate the venison roast in the brine for 5 days.
Smoking
Remove the roast, then cold smoke at 225F until an internal temperature of 130-135 F. Remove the roast, pat dry, and prepare to sear it.
Searing
Heat a heavy cast iron skillet, grill or other surface until nearly smoking hot, brown the roast on all sides until golden with a drizzle of oil, about 1 minute per side, then remove and rest in a warm place for AT LEAST 15 minutes before slicing. After resting, this should give you about a medium-rare to medium doneness.*see note
Notes
Serving Hot
* If you keep the roast in a warm place, you can reheat it in an oven a bit to flash it before you carve and serve it.