How to make Stuffed Rice Sparrows and the recipes of Stuffed Rice Sparrows

Stuffed Rice Sparrows

Ingredients:

• 24 rice sparrows
• 0.5 grams sesame oil
• 0.1 grams ground black pepper
• 1.5 grams dark soy sauce
• 10 grams Shaoxing wine
• 20 grams rose wine
• 75 grams chicken liver
• 60 grams Chinese sausage
• 1 lemon
• 12.5 grams ginger slices
• 12.5 grams green onions
• 2.5 grams salt
• 250 grams broth
• 500 grams peanut oil (for frying)
• 7.5 grams snake oil (approximately 50 grams consumed)
• 0.5 grams white sugar
• 5 grams wet cornstarch

Cooking Method:

1. Pluck and clean the rice sparrows, remove the skin near the anus, trim off the feet, wings, and beak. Tear off the neck skin, trachea, and esophagus. Insert a little finger from the chest under the neck, squeeze out the internal organs, wash thoroughly, drain, and then mix with salt, green onions, ginger, and rose wine. Marinate for about 1 hour.
2. Place the chicken liver in a bowl, pour boiling water over it, and soak for about 10 minutes until cooked. Then cut the chicken liver and Chinese sausage into 1.5 cm long, 0.3 cm wide, and 0.3 cm thick strips, each totaling 24 strips, and stuff one strip into each rice sparrow. Cut the lemon in half horizontally.
3. Heat peanut oil in a wok over medium heat until it reaches 50% hot. Fry the rice sparrows quickly until golden brown, then remove and drain the oil using a colander. Return the wok to heat, add the rice sparrows, Shaoxing wine, broth, oyster sauce, sugar, ground black pepper, and soy sauce. Cover and simmer until cooked through, then thicken with wet cornstarch slurry. Finally, drizzle with sesame oil and 25 grams of peanut oil, stir well, and transfer to a serving plate. Place the lemon halves on the side, and squeeze the juice over the rice sparrows before serving.

Key Techniques:

1. Frying Rice Sparrows: Fry the rice sparrows briefly, approximately 30 seconds, until golden brown.
2. Cooking Time: The rice sparrows should cook for about 7 minutes.
3. Serving with Lemon: Serving with lemon juice squeezed over the dish is essential for authentic flavor.

Flavor Characteristics:

1. Rice sparrows, also known as “yellow-breasted sparrows,” are small migratory birds that arrive in groups during the early autumn and depart shortly after the first frost. They feed exclusively on green seeds during the flowering and grain-filling stages, which is why they are called rice sparrows. During this season, farmers in the Pearl River Delta catch large numbers of rice sparrows, which are highly prized for their delicacy.
2. Despite being small like sparrows, their taste is incomparable to common sparrows. Their bones are small and brittle, while their meat is tender and rich. Especially notable are their chest and tail regions, which accumulate thick adipose tissue, semi-transparent and yellowish in color, making them appear plump and tender. Rice sparrows are sometimes referred to as the “small chickens of Guangdong” and are used in various cooking methods such as frying, braising, and steaming.