Name: Minced Squab with Lettuce Cups
Yield: Serves 6 as an appetizer or first course, 2 as a Main Course.
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 2 heads Bibb or iceberg lettuce, leaves carefully separated into lettuce cups; 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold chicken broth; 1 tablespoon oyster sauce; 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 2 tablespoons thin soy sauce; ½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger root; 1 teaspoon sugar; ½ cup chicken broth reduced with squab bones (see step 7); 6 dried oysters, soaked, squeezed dry, and minced (optional) or 4 duck liver sausages, minced; 4 scallions, minced; 10 fresh water chestnuts, peeled and minced; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tablespoons peanut oil; ½ cup minced bamboo shoots; 6 Chinese black mushrooms, soaked, squeezed dry, and minced

Ken Hom

Minced Squab with Lettuce Cups

Preparation info

Serves
6
as an appetizer .

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Chinese Technique

By Ken Hom

Published 1981

About

Each guest wraps some of the squab mixture in a lettuce cup. In Chinese etiquette the package is eaten with chopsticks, but it is easier to handle with the hands. The dish usually is served as an early course, functioning as a sort of salad, served with deep-fried transparent noodles.

Ingredients

2 squabs, 1 lb. each
2 tablespoons peanut oil

Asia
China
Starter
Main course

Method

Mincing, stir-frying
May be prepared in advance through step 12.
Suggested Beverage: Gamay, Beaujolais, or light Spanish red wine
Using a thin cleaver, cut away the wings.

Preparation info

Serves

Difficulty

Appears in

Ingredients

Method