Korean Fried Quail with Cucumber Pickles
This wild game take on Korean Fried Chicken is crispy, sticky, and indulgent
Korean food was one of the cuisines I arrived at late, but fell into hard.
I grew up in the suburbs of a medium-sized city with lots of early ’90s takeout options like pizza, fast food, and Canadian-Chinese, but my parents weren’t too interested in ordering takeout. This was likely because they both came from struggling immigrant Dutch families who grew their own food, and also because we simply didn’t have enough money to indulge in things like that.
As I grew into a semi-sentient, semi-autonomous, and very hungry teenager, I began spending much of my hard-earned money on fast food, mostly for the social benefits. Having a place to hang out with my friends that wasn’t one of our parents’ houses, or some park, felt very important to me at the time. From there I left for college, which was located in a small town where takeout and fast food options were few—not that it mattered, because I didn’t have enough money for groceries, let alone restaurants.
Time went on and I found myself moving from place to place to follow work opportunities, most of which were in remote, northern areas where takeout options were virtually nonexistent. Then, in my late 20s, I moved in with my girlfriend in downtown Toronto and got a job as an urban arborist. Suddenly, I had a bit of extra money to spare, and there was food all around me.
Oh, the food.
Toronto is the fourth-largest city in North America, behind only Mexico City, New York, and Los Angeles. It’s also one of the most diverse cities in the world, bringing a multi-cultural approach to food that is second only to cities like London and New York.
I’d found myself in a food wonderland, and I took full advantage–it was the first time that food felt expansive rather than limited. Cloudy bowls of steaming ramen, pungent Vietnamese fish sauce chicken wings, mouthwatering Portuguese churrasco, plump momos drowning in jhol, smoky wood oven pizzas, delightful arrays of Spanish tapas, searing hot jerk chicken, rich curries sopped up with buttery naan, mile-high steamer baskets full of translucent Cantonese dumplings, hilariously oversized bowls of decadent pho, and Korean food!
I’d never really experienced Korean food before then. Korean barbecues, H-Marts with entire walls dedicated to various kimchi, guys on the street corner cooking up fun little stuffed waffles shaped like fish, late-night restaurants blaring K-Pop and serving restorative bowls of gamjatang and soondubu jiggae… the Korean food in Toronto was everything I’d ever wanted.
And then I found Korean Fried Chicken, affectionately called KFC by those who enjoy it. Crunchy, sticky, unapologetically indulgent; I understood why people lined up for it. I’d also fallen in love, but at the time I didn’t realize how much I’d miss this kind of food once it was gone.
After Toronto, we moved around a bit and ultimately ended up out in the woods again, where the closest “takeout” option was 40 minutes into town for a sub-par pizza and turning on the seat warmer underneath the box for the 40-minute drive home. Don’t get me wrong, I love living out in the woods, but damn do I miss the food options—especially on the odd occasion I don’t feel like cooking.
One day, the craving for KFC hit me hard, and it wasn’t for the Colonel’s sad excuse for soggy fried chicken. Digging around in my freezer, I came across some quail that I’d been saving for a special occasion. A friend of mine had shot a bunch while training with his dog and had gifted me a half dozen. Perfect. Quail are small enough to fry whole, and I figured the KFC treatment would bring them to a whole new level.
I developed this recipe in an effort to relive my Toronto food days, but with a more nuanced, wild ingredient. It takes a bit of effort, but I assure you, you won’t be disappointed!
Korean Fried Quail with Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
Method
- Mix sauce ingredients, add to pot over medium heat, simmer for 3 minutes, then take off heat. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the cucumbers with the rest of the pickle ingredients and let marinate while you cook the quail.
- Take each bird and, using kitchen shears or a hardy knife, cut down the entire spine and open the back up in order to butterfly the quail.
- Heat several inches of oil in a deep skillet to 350°F.
- Mix the cornstarch, pepper, salt, and ginger powder together in a bowl. Toss the quail in the rice wine vinegar, then toss them in the spice mixture so they are fully coated.
- Add 1-3 quail to the hot oil at a time, ensuring there is no crowding. Cook for about 3 minutes per side (or until cooked through), then transfer to a plate or rack lined with paper towel.
- Once quail are done, refry them for another 30-45 seconds per side.
- Toss them in the sauce you made earlier and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately with the cucumbers and rice if you desire. Enjoy!
