How to cook incredible pheasant goujons
A remarkably straightforward pheasant goujon recipe, to serve four, from an esteemed chef who heads up a Michelin-starred kitchen – it really is a must-try...
Treated correctly, pheasant has a whole lot going for it. Healthy and delicious, it can be cooked in a variety of ways. From classic roast pheasant recipes to slow-cooked curries, stir fries, tacos and casseroles, the options are endless when it comes to eating our most common gamebird.
That said, when you’re searching for a quick and easy pheasant recipe that the whole family will enjoy, it’s hard to look past the humble goujon.
We recently spent some time with Callum Leslie, executive chef at The Black Swan at Oldstead (you can read more about our visit here), where making the most of local ingredients from the countryside takes centre stage. And, for a quick lunchtime snack, Callum cooked us a favourite go-to of his when at home.
We think he has perfected the ultimate pheasant snack – with a few (optional) twists...
Ingredients
- 6 skinless pheasant breasts
- Plain flour
- Buttermilk or natural yoghurt
- Semolina (optional)
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Seasonings of your choice (smoked paprika, dried onion/garlic powder are ideal)
- Local runny honey
- Vegetable oil (for frying)
To serve (optional)
- Kimchee
- Cucumber slices (pickled – see step 7)
- Natural yoghurt
Method
1. Prepare the pheasant
Remove any sinews and shot damage from the pheasant breasts and slice each crossways, into inch-thick strips.
2. Dip the pheasant breast pieces
Place the breast strips into a bowl with enough buttermilk or natural yoghurt to cover each.
3. Prepare the flour coating
In a flat tray or bowl, add a mixture of plain flour, semolina for texture (optional), a good pinch of salt and pepper, and any other seasoning you may wish to include. Callum added some fermented chilli powder from his treasure trove of ingredients, but smoked paprika or dried onion/garlic powder, could also work.
4. Coat the meat
Use kitchen tongs to lift each piece of meat from the bowl of buttermilk or yoghurt, allow any excess to drip off, and then roll the meat in the flour mixture until well coated. Then let the coated pieces sit in a clean tray for a few minutes before rolling in the flour mixture a second time – this time with your hands, packing the mixture around the meat to ensure a thick covering.
5. Cook the goujons
Cooking methods vary. Callum prefers to use a deep-fat fryer for 2 minutes 30 seconds, until nicely crisped and golden. Shallow frying in a large pan can work, too – you’ll need to heat the oil to 180C, and fry the strips for around 3 minutes, turning them as needed to ensure even coverage.
6. Drain and coat
Upon removing the goujons, allow the excess oil to drain off and then place in a bowl with some kitchen paper to absorb more of the excess oil. Then, in a separate, deep bowl, add the runny honey and smoked paprika (Callum used more of his fermented chilli powder) and mix well. Finally, add the goujons and roll them around in the bowl to coat evenly.
7. Plate up
To serve, Callum started with a helping of kimchee on the plate (homemade, of course, but this can be bought from the supermarket). The kimchee is seasoned lightly with fermented chilli powder, before the goujons are place on top and then garnished with some cucumber slices (deseeded, finely sliced and pickled for a week in a mixture made up of equal parts sugar, water and white wine vinegar). To finish, drizzle the natural yoghurt over the goujons.