Chinese loves eating squab, a young pigeon that is less than a month old. Squab is eaten once in a while or on special occasions as it is a delicacy. Similar to duck squab meat is dark, it is exceptionally tender and has liver like texture.
In Toronto, very few Chinese restaurants serve squab; those that serve it, would typically charge a single squab for around $40, tax and tip included. I looked for fresh squab and even tried St. Lawrence Market without success. Eventually I found one particular Chinese supermarket that has it, selling them for $17.99 each, dressed. I purchased one to try cooking it myself. For a bird that weighs about half a pound, it is not cheap. As you can see from the picture below, it is quite small and its body is just slightly longer than 10cm.
I decided to cook it Chinese style, that is to braise it first in a basic braising sauce that is 100% water, 25% dark soy sauce, 5% light soy sauce, cinnamon stick , star anise and ginger. Detail steps as follow:
- Cover the squab completely in a pot with the braising sauce and boil for 3 minutes then remove the pot from heat and let the residual heat in the pot to continue to cook for an hour to avoid over-cooking it
- Remove squab from the pot leave it out to air dry for 30 minutes
- Heat around 400ml of vegetable oil in a wok and use a ladle to baste the squab all over until the skin is shinny and crisp while the meat is still moist
- Serve immediately with garnish
Reference
Banner picture: Photographer, Tim Watkinson, Pigeon in the park. Retrieved from http://timwatkinson.com/paris-in-pictures/dsc_4815
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