I think I have convinced hubby about our visit to Taiwan in the future with this twice-cooked quail. The quails are marinated with soy sauce and pan-fried until golden brown. They were then steamed with chicken stock, ginger and wine.
I personally quite surprised by how good this dish turn out. I know it’s going to be good because I like quails, however, it’s actually better than I imagined. That broth….yummm….really, so good. This dish is so very comforting and eating it in a cold weather like this, I promise you it will warm you up inside out. Just like Martin Yan said in his Martin Yan’s Asian Favorite cookbook ” When something is worth doing, it’s worth doing twice”
TWICE-COOKED QUAILS (4 to 6 servings)
Marinade
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
6 quails, cleaned
Cornstarch, for dusting
5 napa cabbage leaves or cabbages, trimmed
2 Tbsp salt
About 1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups chicken stock
10 slice ginger
2 Tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
COOKING METHOD:
1. To make marinade, in a medium bowl, mix soy sauce and dark soy sauce
2. Cut quails in half lengthwise; add marinade and turn to coat. Let stand for at least 30 minutes; drain
3. Dust quails with cornstarch; shake to remove excess. Let stand for 5 minutes
4. Rinse cabbage with cold water. Sprinkle salt over cabbage leaves and let stand for 2 minutes. Rinse with cold water; squeeze to remove excess liquid. Cut cabbage into 1-inch pieces and set aside
5. Place a wide frying pan over medium heat until hot. Add oil; when oil is hot, add quails. Pan-fry quails until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove and drain on paper towels
6. Prepare a wok for steaming by placing steam rack over boiling water in a wok. Make sure the rack sits 1 inch above the water. Place cabbage on the casserole dish, followed by quails, stock and ginger. Place casserole in steamer; cover and steam for 30 minutes. Add rice wine and steam for another 20 minutes
NOTE: Watch out for the steaming water, make sure it doesn’t run low. If it does, lift the cover of the steamer (away from you so you won’t get scalded) and pour hot water in and cover it back and let it continue to steam.
