Roasted Quail stuffed with Glutinous Rice

The other thing that I've been busy with was the birthday lunch for X & Rene. They both have their birthdays in May so we had a double celebration for them last Sunday. Just a simple family affair.

I mentioned before that normally X prepares all the special occasion meals but since this is his birthday, I couldn't very well expect him to cook, could I ?

For the main course, I decided to do roasted quail stuffed with glutinous rice. Even tho quail is easily available in the supermarkets, it's not something his family eats often. To give it an Asian twist, I wanted to stuff it with glutinous rice. I've done it before with chicken wings but honestly, they are just too small to be worth the effort.

I wasn't too sure how his family would take to glutinous rice so I'd prepared a gratin dauphinois on the side to be safe. I was happy to note that nobody, except for the kids, helped themselves to the gratin. But the 2 biggest fans were Appy & Jackie so this recipe is for you guys.

Roasted Quail stuffed with Glutinous Rice

For the glutinous rice (enough for 6-8 quails)

250g glutinous rice (soaked overnight)
1 chinese sausage, diced
3-4 mushroom, diced
handful of dried shrimp
garlic & ginger, chopped
sesame oil

Seasoning
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp light soy
1 Tbsp dark soy
1 tsp chinese wine
1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper

1. Drain the rice
2. Fry ginger & garlic in sesame oil
3. Add mushrooms, shrimp, sausage & seasoning
4. Fry till fragrant
5. Add rice & I cup of water
6. Cook over medium heat for 10-15 mins, stirring till water is absorbed into the rice
7. Transfer the rice to deep dish (I used a cake pan) & steam for 30 mins until the rice is done

For the quails

1. Rub the quails with worcestershire sauce - inside & out
2. Stuff the cooked glutinous rice into the quails
3. Close them up with a toothpick (I did this thinking that maybe the rice might fall out but it didn't so you can probably skip this step)
4. Add 1 chopped carrot & 1 chopped onion in the roasting pan
5. Roast at 220C until the quails are brown & crispy occasionally basting with honey & soy sauce
6. Once done, remove the quails & keep the remaining juice in the pan to prepare the sauce

For the sauce

1. Add 1-2 cups of veal stock to the pan & scrap up the bits from the tray & transfer to small pot together with the carrot & onion
2. Boil then simmer to reduce
3. Sieve & add cornstarch to thicken