Pheasant Stir-fry

Friday, November 1 was the Ohio pheasant opener. I hunted the morning without any success. I jumped a couple but missed both birds. In the afternoon I went hunting with my buddy Craig and his dog, Jar, a Cesky Fouseks. We managed to get on some birds and I killed two and Craig got one. Jar was amazing both on the point and during the retrieves.

Typically, I either roast the birds whole or breast them out and fry them in butter and olive oil with a little salt and pepper. With these birds I wanted to do something a bit different. I decided to make stir fried pheasant in Kung Pao sauce. I looked at several recipes online. I took parts of several and combined several, adding my own modifications to suit my family’s tastes and what was in the pantry. While this recipe is designed for pheasant but any upland game bird or even chicken will work.

MARINADE

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 ½ tablespoons corn starch

• ¼ cup water

Instructions

• Whisk together all the ingredients for the marinade in a medium bowl.

• Cut the pheasant breasts into small chunks of about ½ inch across and mix in with the marinade ingredients.

• Set aside for a minimum of 20 minutes.

SAUCE

Ingredients

• ½ cup chicken stock

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (sub balsamic vinegar)

• 2 tablespoons corn starch

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Instructions

• Whisk all the ingredients for the sauce together and set aside.

PHEASANT & VEGETABLES

Ingredients

• Skinless breasts from 4 pheasants (sub chicken breasts, about 2 lbs.)

• 6 to 7 garlic cloves, diced

• A 2-inch piece of ginger, grated

• 6 to 8 green onions cut into ½-inch pieces

• 1 red bell pepper, diced

• 1 green bell pepper, diced

• 1 carrot, diced

• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced

• 1 can water chestnuts, drained (optional)

• 1 cup snow peas (optional)

• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (adjust to taste) I added more because my family likes the spice. The boys used to drink salsa at Mexican restaurants when they were toddlers.

• 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 ½ cups roasted peanuts

Instructions

• Cube Pheasant and place in marinade

• Set a wok or large cast-iron skillet over high heat for 1 minute.

• Add the oil and heat.

• Add the garlic and stir fry for 15 - 30 seconds.

• Add the pheasant in several small batches and stir-fry until almost done and remove from the hot pan*

• Add vegetables and ginger and stir fry until desired doneness. You do not want to overcook. The vegetables should be hot but crisp.

• Combine the veggies and pheasant back into the skillet

• Stir the sauce well and pour it into the wok or cast-iron skillet. Bring to a rapid boil.

• Simmer for a couple of minutes to help thicken the sauce.

• Add the peanuts and toss to combine and cook for an additional 45 seconds

*Be careful not to overload the wok or skillet. Overloading will lower the heat too much and you won’t get a good sear on the fowl.

Serve immediately over white rice.