Name: Pheasant breasts with plum sauce recipe
Yield: Serves: 4
Ingredients: 1tsp Chinese five-spice powder; 2tsp olive oil; 4 pheasant breasts, rinsed and dried with kitchen paper

Nutrition Per Portion

RDA

Calories

350 Kcal

18%

Fat

14 g

20%

Saturated Fat

4 g

20%

By Jessica Dady

published 15 November 2008

A warming dish of winter game in a plum and Chinese five-spice sauce is delicious with pak choi and noodles.

Ingredients

1tsp Chinese five-spice powder
2tsp olive oil
4 pheasant breasts, rinsed and dried with kitchen paper

For the sauce

(makes 400ml/13.5fl oz — only half will be served with this recipe)

500g (1lb) plums
150ml (¼ pint) dry sherry
150ml (¼ pint) vegetable or chicken stock
2tbsp clear honey
Soy sauce, to taste

To serve

200g (7oz) egg noodles
4 small pak choi, halved

WEIGHT CONVERTER

I want to convert...

grams

cups

Method

To make the sauce: Set the oven to gas mark 6 or 200°C. Halve plums, leaving stones in if they don’t come out easily. Put he plums cut-side down in a roasting tin and pour sherry and stock over. Roast for 30 mins.
Mix five-spice powder and oil and rub over pheasant. Heat a frying pan and when hot, fry breasts for a few minutes on each side, then put the pan in the oven (or transfer meat to a hot roasting tin) and cook for 8 mins. Take breasts out of tin, wrap them in foil and rest them for 10 mins.
Tip the plums and juice into a sieve over the pan the pheasant was cooked in and push through to make a purée. Bring to the boil over a high heat, reduce for about 5 mins, then add honey, and plenty of soy sauce, to taste. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to pack instructions, steaming the pak choi on top. Divide between plates, slice pheasant and spoon some sauce over. Serve more sauce on the side.

Top Tip for making Pheasant breasts with plum sauce

There’s nothing tastier at the start of the season than young roast pheasant; but an older bird cooked that way could be dry and unappealing. Spot an old pheasant by its long spurs and horny beak and feet. If buying oven-ready birds, you can’t easily check the age, so look out for plump birds. Buy from a reputable butcher or supermarket, and it should be fresh and not too gamey.

Explore More

Autumn Recipes Chinese Recipes Dinner party Recipes

Jessica Dady is Senior Content Editor at Goodto.com and has over 10 years of experience as a digital journalist, specialising in all things food, recipes, and SEO. From the best food hampers to cookbooks, from the best cake stands to baking sets, Jessica has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to must-have food products. A passionate baker, she spends much of her time creating celebration cakes for friends and family - particularly for her two lucky children.