Chefs' Recipes

Flower Drum's braised squab with oyster sauce and shiitake mushrooms (tung ku wat yu kap)

Try squab for its dark, gamy and richly flavoured meat.

By Anthony Lui
  • 10 mins preparation
  • 30 mins cooking
  • Serves 6
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Braised squab with oyster sauce and shiitake mushrooms (tung ku wat yu kap)
According to Chef Lui, squab is a favourite with many diners at Flower Drum. The bird's dark gamy meat is richly flavoured and particularly succulent cooked in this manner - first deep-fried, then finished in a clay pot or Chinese casserole. Squab is often used as part of a celebratory Chinese banquet and marries beautifully with bamboo shoots.

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp dark soy sauce
  • 3 squab (500gm each)
  • For deep-frying: vegetable oil
  • 6 spring onions, sliced into batons
  • 45 gm ginger, thinly sliced
  • 1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock
  • 80 ml (1/3 cup) oyster sauce
  • 1½ tbsp Shaoxing wine
  • 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, drained, stems removed
  • 90 gm thinly sliced bamboo shoots
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp potato starch mixed with 60ml water (see note)
  • ½ cup (loosely packed) coriander

Method

Main
  • 1
    Brush dark soy over squab and set aside. Half-fill a large wok with vegetable oil and heat over high heat to 190C. Carefully add squab and deep-fry until golden brown (3-4 minutes; be careful, hot oil will spit). Remove from the wok and drain well.
  • 2
    Heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat in a saucepan that will hold the squab snugly in a single layer. Add spring onion and ginger, fry for 30 seconds, then add chicken stock, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots and soy sauce, and bring to a simmer. Add squab and simmer, basting occasionally, until sauce is reduced by half and squab is cooked (20 minutes).
  • 3
    Remove squab, cut into small portions, place on a serving plate and keep warm. Pour cooking liquor into a wok and bring to the boil. Add potato starch slurry and stir continuously over high heat until thickened slightly (1 minute). Ladle sauce over squab and serve topped with coriander.

Notes

Drink Suggestion: A savoury grenache, syrah, mourvedre blend will match well with the sauce. Drink suggestion by Jason Lui