Name: Braised Pigeon
Yield: Serves 4 as Main Course; 12 with 5 Other Dishes
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 15 ml (1 tbsp) peanut or vegetable oil; 4 pigeons or squabs with giblets (not wood pigeons), each about 450 g (1 lb); 30 ml (2 tbsp) peanut or vegetable oil; ¾ star anise, or 6 segments; 10 ml (2 tsp) thick or dark soy sauce; 1½ star anise, or 12 segments; 100 ml (4 fl oz) chicken stock or more; 25 ml (1 fl oz) thin or light soy sauce; 25 ml (1 fl oz) thick or dark soy sauce; 5 ml (1 tsp) Sichuan peppercorns; 2.5 ml (½ tsp) cloves; 2.5 cm (1 in) cinnamon stick, broken up; 30 ml (2 tbsp) Mei Kuei Lu wine or gin; 45 g (1½ oz) pork fat, cut into small pieces; 10 g (⅓ oz) Chinese rock sugar, or sugar; 1.5–2.5 ml (¼–½ tsp) salt

Preparation info

Serves
4
as Main Course

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Classic Food of China

By Yan-Kit So

Published 1992

About

In China, pigeons are usually prepared in one of two ways. They are either deep-fried or braised. For the former, they are hung up until the skin, which has been brushed with a honey liquid, becomes very dry and they are then deep-fried until the skin is crispy and russet and the flesh succulent. For the latter, they are braised in good soy sauce made aromatic by herbs, as described below.