Crisp Fried Spiced Pigeon

Cheong tasted this dish at the Yeun Long pigeon restaurant on his first trip to Hong Kong – and the flavour memory has remained with him. The pigeons are rubbed with prickly ash (fried salt with a ground Sichuan peppercorn mix) and wine, then poached in chicken stock for about 20 minutes. ‘You hang them up, brush maltose vinegar glaze over them and leave them to dry for a few hours, or use a fan on them if you are in a hurry. Then the pigeon is deep-fried until the skin is crisp and golden