SRIRACHA SWEET & SPICY FRIED QUAIL

What’s not to love about a plan ahead pre prep Christmas? This quail recipe falls squarely within this qualifier. The birds marinate over night, for a simple flash fry and finish in the oven on the day.

The marinade also comes in strong as the finishing sauce, an absolute win in my book, no one has time for double handling come Christmas. Too hot. Too hard.

Ingredients
10 quail butterflied
marinade/sauce
220g brown sugar
200ml fish sauce
100ml Sriracha hot sauce
4 cloves garlic, grated
cornflour for dusting
flavourless oil for cooking

To top
crushed salted and roasted peanuts
chilli threads or sliced fresh chilli
coriander leaves to scatter

QUAIL BUTTERFLIED (PACK OF 6) (FROZEN) $65.70

Method

Whisk the fish sauce, sriracha, sugar and garlic in a large bowl. Add your quail and gently toss to coat. Marinade for at least an hour, or overnight if you have the forward planning Christmas bug, it does wonders giving them an overnight sits bath in the marinade.

Preheat oven to 180C.

Add some cornflour to a large plate. Gently remove the quail from the marinade, shaking off any drips. Gently coat in corn flour and set aside. Repeat with cornflour and all birds.

Place a frying pan over medium heat. Add a very generous lug of oil and once hot and shimmering, add the birds, you will need to do this in batches, and cook for 1 minute each side. Be careful as the oil will spit. Transfer to a large baking tray lined with baking paper.

Repeat until all birds are crisp and golden.

Spoon over ¼ cup of the marinade and place in the oven and cook for 5-7 minutes or until they look caramelised and golden and have cooked through.

While the quail are cooking, add the marinade to a saucepan and place over high heat. Cook, stirring to prevent any catching, until the marinade thickens.

Add the quail to a serving platter. Drizzle over a little extra of the reduced marinade and top with the salted crushed peanuts, chilli and herbs. Serve with any residual sauce.