Name: Whole quail with sticky rice with Chinese sausage
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 55 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 400g short grain glutinous rice; 2 Chinese sausages, cut into rounds; 30g roasted, peeled, and diced chestnuts; 3 tbsp sugar, more if needed; 2 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tbsp dried scallop, reconstituted in water; 2 tbsp gingko nuts; 2 tbsp cubed Chinese ham; 1 tbsp red dates, reconstituted in water; 1 tbsp shao xing cooking wine; 1 tbsp dried prawn, finely chopped; 30g edamame peas; 30g thinly sliced (on the bias) spring onion greens; 8 (110g) boneless quail; For the spring onion oil garnish; 1 spring onion green, blanched, shocked, and squeezed dry; 80ml soybean oil; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 tsp pulverized fresh ginger, or to taste; For the garlic chives garnish; 250ml soybean oil; 250g garlic chives, cut into 5cm lengths; Salt; Soybean oil to serve

1) Rinse the rice 2 times in a bowl of cold water and drain. In a large ovenproof pot, combine the rice, sausages, chestnuts, sugar, soy sauce, dried scallops, gingko nuts, ham, dates, wine and dried prawns.

2) Add 750ml of water, put in a steam oven, and cook until cooked through and soft, 30 to 45 minutes. Fold in the edamame. Taste and adjust the sugar, soy sauce, and salt. Allow to cool and then fold in the spring onions. Stuff about 100g of the rice mixture into each quail.

3) For the spring onion oil garnish, put the spring onions in a bowl, cover with the oil, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Puree in a blender and strain through a very fine-mesh sieve, gently pressing to extract the pulp. Add the ginger, to taste.

4) For the garlic chives garnish, in a small skillet heat the oil over a medium heat. Saute the garlic chives, seasoning with salt, until slightly caramelized. You can add a bit of water to help cook the chives through before burning, if needed.

5) Preheat the oven to 260C/Gas 10. Heat a large skillet with a little oil. Sear the birds breast side down and then put in the oven until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Then turn the birds and repeat the process on the other side, cooking until the birds are cooked and the rice is heated through.

6) Serve the whole quail on a bed of chive buds with a few dots of spring onion oil to garnish the plate.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore we cannot make any representation as to the results.