Recipe Source: Le, Ann. The Little Saigon Cookbook. Insider's Guide, Guilford, 2006 p. 150
For some reason, I tend to crave food from South-East Asia when it's cold. I guess I must just be distracting myself from the misery of winter by thinking about places that are warm. At some point last winter, I left this book in the bedroom. While I was trying to come up with inspiration for last week's menu, I picked up this book. This recipe was the first one I opened up to. I said, "Inspiration!" (I will admit, I frequently pick up this book, open it to a random page, and say, "Inspiration!" Then I fall asleep and forget again - I told you it's been living in the bedroom!)
At any rate, I wound up having to make a few changes, but you knew I would. The biggest change was the type of fowl used. I mentioned yesterday that I couldn't find duck at my local Whole Foods, so I substituted pheasant. (This brought the cost per serving up dramatically. Pheasant is not cheap. Duck can be.) I couldn't find my stock of five-spice powder, so I substituted plain old ground coriander. Finally, my local Whole Foods also lacked coconut juice AND coconut soda as called for in the recipe. The closest I was able to find was pineapple-coconut juice. I don't think that I lost out here. (I'd also like to point out that the pineapple-coconut juice would probably pair very nicely with rum. Since I'm holding off on the rum for another few months, perhaps my good friend Carol would be willing to experiment in my stead.) Another change (I know, another change after I said "finally" is not only bad grammar but misleading. Sorry.) is that I served it on a bed of basmati rice that I cooked up with a batch of my Lemony Vegetable Broth. This is only important in that the broth lent a unique flavor to the rice that combined exceptionally well with the sauce from the pheasant. There was plenty of rice left over, so I used it the next night for some fried rice which I'll post at a later date.
I would easily describe this dish as "delicious." It was the first time either of us had tasted pheasant. It's not really like anything we've had before. The nearest thing I can compare it to would be turkey, but that doesn't convey the unique flavor of this bird. Like I said earlier, pheasant is not cheap, so I'd reserve it for a special occasion. If you happen to be a very small crowd for Thanksgiving, consider pheasant in place of turkey. You won't be disappointed!
Braised Pheasant With Pineapple-Coconut Sauce (serves 4; approx. $8.22/serving)
1 pheasant, skinned
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 heads green garlic, chopped
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 fresh Thai bird chile, sliced into rings
2 cups coconut-pineapple juice
Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
2 cups basmati rice, washed
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot pepper sesame oil
3 1/3 cups Lemony Vegetable Broth
Equipment:
- Large shallow saute pan with lid
- Saucepan with lid
- Small saucepan
- Bring the broth to a boil in the small saucepan.
- Heat the sesame oil and hot pepper sesame oil in the saucepan.
- Add the rice and saute briefly, about a minute. Make sure that all the rice gets treated with some of the hot oil.
- Pour the boiling broth over the rice. Return to a boil if necessary, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover.
- Simmer five minutes, then turn the heat off and let sit, lid-on, at least half an hour. Do not succumb to any urges to peek.
- Meanwhile, make the pheasant. Sprinkle the pheasant all over with the sugar and the coriander powder. Let sit 15 minutes - this would be a good time to prep your other ingredients.
- Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in the saute pan.
- Add the pheasant and brown on all sides, making sure that the sugar caramelizes. You will certainly want to use your range hood here - it may smoke up a bit.
- Combine the garlic, fish sauce, black pepper, scallions, 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, ginger and chile. Add them and 1 cup coconut-pineapple juice to the pan and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook about an hour.
- Add another half cup of the coconut-pineapple juice to the pan. Deglaze, cover, cook another 15 minutes.
- Add the remaining coconut-pineapple juice. Deglaze again. The internal temperature of your bird should be around 180. If it isn't, cover and continue to cook until it is. (Pheasant cooks quickly, just so you know.)
- Put the rice in your serving vessel.
- Put the pheasant on top of the rice, and pour the pan sauce over the lot.
- Sprinkle with the fresh cilantro and serve.