Pigeons à la Chinois (Chinese Pigeons) is a traditional French recipe for a classic dish of farmed pigeons that are flattened, layered with smoked ham and cooked in a mix of soy sauce and rice wine. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic French version of: Chinese Pigeons (Pigeons à la Chinois).
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Ingredients:
4 young pigeons (squabs)
4 tsp soy sauce
80ml groundnut oil
2 slices smoked ham, halved
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
sea salt, to taste
2 tbsp rice wine (or dry sherry)
12 mushrooms
300g French beans, trimmed
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
40ml water
Method:
Using kitchen shears cut along the backbone of the pigeons then flatten them out, without separating the two halves. Brush the birds liberally with the 4 tbsp soy sauce then set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan then add the pigeons and brown on each side before laying them, alternating with the halved slices of ham, in a small flame-proof casserole dish. Add the sugar, soy sauce, sea salt and rice wine, mixed together beforehand, then pour in enough boiling water to come level with the top of the pigeons. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
Quickly fry the mushrooms in a dry non-stick frying pan until golden then add to the casserole and continue cooking for 25 minutes.
In the meantime, bring a pan of water to a boil. Add the bicarbonate of soda then plunge in the trimmed French beans and cook, without a lid, for 10 minutes. Drain the beans and arrange on the base of a serving dish then arrange the pigeons on top.
Mix the cornflour with the water to form a smooth paste then stir in a little of the sauce from the pigeons before pouring the mixture back into the casserole. Bring to a simmer and allow to thicken before pouring the contents of the casserole over the pigeons. Serve hot with rice noodles.
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