Glorious Game Oriental Platter

If you often have pheasant or partridge it’s worth freezing the legs until you have collected a pan full, then you can slow cook a big batch, shred them, and refreeze in portion sizes to add to any number of dishes.

You’ll also then have a nice stock at the end.Just make sure you freeze the legs in thin layers so they can be defrosted overnight before cooking.

Likewise with the shredded meat, though this can be thrown straight into a pan to be cooked from frozen if you’re cooking something like a stir-fry which will get hot quickly.

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Ingredients

200g shredded pre-cooked pheasant leg
2 cloves garlic, crushed.
couple of handfuls of grated cabbage/kale/spring onions/spinach.
similar amount grated carrot
similar amount beansprouts
1tbs fish sauce
1tbs Shaoxing rice wine (substitute with dry sherry for gluten-free version, or omit altogether)
1tsp soy sauce
slurry from 1tbs cornflour & 1tbs water thoroughly mixed
packet of spring roll wrappers
rapeseed oil

Spring roll wrappers are available online, at oriental supermarkets, and in some mainstream supermarkets. They will likely be frozen and require defrosting before use. 

Soften the garlic in a drizzle of oil, then add the greens, carrots, and beansprouts. Stir fry for a couple of minutes until wilted then add the shredded leg meat.

Stir through the fish sauce, rice wine and soy sauce, and cook for another minute or so until all the liquid is absorbed.  If there’s still some liquid left soak it up with a little cornflour slurry. When all liquid has evaporated 

Lie a spring roll wrapper so it points away from you like a diamond. Keep the rest of the wrappers well sealed or under a damp cloth to stop them drying out. Pop a spoonful of mix in the bottom half, shaping it with your fingers, or if you have brandy snap moulds you can stuff one and push out the mixture to get a good shape. Roll up from the bottom point until you’re at the halfway point, then fold in each side as tightly as possible without tearing the wrapper, and continue to roll, sealing the final sides and point with a little slurry (I like to use a pastry brush but you can use your fingers). Fill, roll, seal, repeat

Heat a deep fat dryer to 170˚C, or if cooking on the stove add enough oil in a wok or high sided saucepan to completely submerge the rolls. Heat the oil: test with a thermometer, by sprinkling in a few breadcrumbs and seeing if they crisp, or by putting in a wooden spoon; if the oil bubbles up the spoon it’s hot enough.

Cook in batches for a couple of minutes until golden brown. Don’t overcrowd as you don’t want to drastically lower the temperature of the oil and end up with greasy rolls. Shake off excess oil back into the pan and drain the rolls on kitchen towel on a rack over a baking tray.

Ingredients

1 large pheasant breast, minced or blitzed
1 egg
1 clove garlic, similar size knob of ginger, 1 spring onion
pinch of black pepper and/or chilli flakes
dash of light soy, fish, or oyster sauce
dash of sesame oil
spoonful of flour on standby
3-4 slices bread
5-6tbs sesame seeds
rapeseed oil to fry in

Combine the meat, egg, garlic, ginger, spring onion, pepper/chilli flakes, soy and sesame oil to make a paste. Add a little flour if it’s too gloopy to easily spread.

Spread the paste over the bread and sprinkle over a good layer of sesame seeds. Or tip the seeds out onto a plate and press, paste side down, into them.

Quarter the slices diagonally into triangles.

Heat a couple of cm of oil in a frying pan and fry the triangles bread side down for a couple of minutes, then flip over until golden and cooked through (don’t overcrowd the pan because doing so will reduce the temperature of the oil and make the toast soggy).

Remove with a slotted spoon or fish-slice and drain on kitchen towel on a wire rack. Best served still hot; sweet & sour sauce optional.

Ingredients

Couple of pheasant breasts, a few partridge breasts, or a combination of both
any leftover shredded slow cooked legs
2 shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed.
equal amount ginger, diced.
small handful coriander leaves or stalks, shredded.
½-1 birdseye chilli, diced, seeds & pith removed if you don’t like too much heat
1tbs fish sauce
1tsp lemongrass paste
zest of 1 lime
leftover spring roll wrappers & slurry
full length chives

Mince the meat, or blitz the meat into a paste in a food processor.

Soften the shallots and ginger, adding the garlic last so as not to burn. 

Mix the meat and shallots. Stir in the coriander, chilli, fish sauce, lemongrass paste and lime zest, together with any leftover shredded leg meat.
Roll a heaped teaspoon of the mix into a ball and place on a wrapper.

Brush a little slurry around the ball, and mould the wrapper around it, gently twisting the surplus to form a moneybag. Tie with a chive if you have some and are feeling flash.

Deep fry in batches until golden brown, shaking off surplus oil and draining on kitchen towel as per the spring rolls.

Ingredients

4tbs cider vinegar
1tbs ketchup
1tbs water
1tsp soy sauce
1tsp cornflour
honey to taste – probably around 3tbs

Combine all the ingredients over a low heat, then simmer to reduce and thicken for around 5 minutes.