Pheasant Toast
Pheasant Toast, Spring Rolls & Money Bags
Pheasant Toast (Think Prawn Toast but healthier, tastier, and ready quicker than a takeaway...)
Ingredients :
4 or 5 pheasant thighs - circa 200-225g
1 egg white
A clove of garlic & similar sized knob of ginger
1 spring onion.
Pinch of black pepper and/or chilli flakes.
Dash of light soy sauce, fish sauce or oyster sauce.
Dash of sesame oil (optional allergen)
3-4 slices of bread (gluten free optional)
5-6 tbsp sesame seeds (optional - obviously omit if you're allergic)
Spoonful of flour on standby (gluten free if necessary)
Rapeseed oil to fry in.
Method : -
Combine meat, egg, garlic & ginger, spring onion, pepper/chilli flakes, soy & sesame oil to make a paste.
Add a little flour if its too gloopy to easily spread.
Spread on the bread, and sprinkle over a good layer of sesame seeds – or tip them onto a plate and press, paste side down, into them.
Quarter the slices into triangles.
Heat a couple of cm of oil in a frying pan and fry triangles bread side down for a couple of minutes then flip over and cook another till golden & cooked through (don’t overcrowd the pan because doing so will reducethe 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.
Spring Rolls
Ingredients (Makes about 10 spring rolls) : -
200g shredded pre-cooked pheasant leg
Couple of handfuls of grated cabbage / kale / spring onions / spinach.
Similar amount of grated carrots (roughly 3 - 4, depending on size).
Similar amount of beansprouts – around 180g
Couple of cloves of garlic – crushed.
1tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (optional. Substitute with dry sherry for gluten-free version or omit altogether).
2tsp soy sauce
Packet of spring roll wrappers – available at Chinese Supermarkets, online, and some supermarkets. The ones I have are about 15cm wide. For a gluten-free alternative wrap in blanched cabbage leaves instead.
Slurry from 1 tbsp cornflour & 1tbsp water thoroughly mixed.
Rapeseed oil
Method : -
Soften garlic in a drizzle of oil, then add cabbage, carrots, & beansprouts, and stir fry for a couple of minutes until wilted.
Stir through the fish sauce, rice wine & soy sauce, and cook for another minute or so until all the liquid is absorbed. If there’s still some liquid left absorb with a little cornflour slurry.
When liquid has evaporated / absorb, spread mix on a baking tray and allow to cool.
Lie a spring roll wrapper so it points away from you like a diamond. Keep the rest 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 the mixture out one end 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 & point with a little slurry (I like to use a pastry brush but you can use your fingers). Fill, roll, seal, repeat
To cook : -
Deep fat dryer : heat to 170˚C
On Stove – add enough oil in a high sided saucepan (or wok if you have one) to completely submerge the rolls. Heat for a couple of minutes and test if it’s hot enough by sprinkling in a few breadcrumbs and seeing if they crisp up, or 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 as much excess oil back into the pan and drain the rolls on some kitchen towel on a rack over a baking tray.
Serve with sweet & sour dipping sauce or soy sauce or condiment of choice.
Store Cupboard Sweet & Sour Sauce : -
4 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp water
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
Honey to taste – probably around 3 tbsp
Combine all ingredients over a low heat, simmer to reduce & thicken, around 5 minutes.