by Rachel Green
Sweet and sour rabbit, by Rachel Green
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/360°F/gas mark 4
Heat a good slug of rapeseed oil in a flameproof casserole dish, add the rabbit legs and cook until golden brown and sealed on all sides. Remove from the dish.
Add the stock to the dish and deglaze, scraping up all the roasting juices with a wooden spoon. Stir in the split vanilla pod, cardamom, garlic, coriander seeds and black peppercorns, then add the rabbit legs to the stock. Cover the dish and place in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the rabbit is tender.
Remove the legs from the dish and set aside. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into a saucepan and cook on the hob until reduced by half.
To make the sauce, put the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan and heat over a medium heat to a light caramel colour. Add the soy sauce, chilli, ginger, tamarind paste, star anise and pineapple and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the reduced rabbit stock and cook for another 2 minutes.
Return the rabbit legs to the pan and turn them in the sauce to glaze. Season to taste.
Lift the legs out, place onto a serving dish and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle with the chopped chilli and coriander and finish with the lime zest.
Serve with steamed jasmine rice with toasted sesame seeds.
Recipe created by Rachel Green, image by Michael Powell.
The Eat Game Awards aim to celebrate the best of wild British produce by recognizing great culinary achievements and other contributions to the cooking and eating of game. They offer those less familiar with game the chance to get a better understanding of how to cook it and the confidence to include it in their regular culinary repertoires.
Learn more about the Eat Game Awards here
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/360°F/gas mark 4
Heat a good slug of rapeseed oil in a flameproof casserole dish, add the rabbit legs and cook until golden brown and sealed on all sides. Remove from the dish.
Add the stock to the dish and deglaze, scraping up all the roasting juices with a wooden spoon. Stir in the split vanilla pod, cardamom, garlic, coriander seeds and black peppercorns, then add the rabbit legs to the stock. Cover the dish and place in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the rabbit is tender.
Remove the legs from the dish and set aside. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into a saucepan and cook on the hob until reduced by half.
To make the sauce, put the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan and heat over a medium heat to a light caramel colour. Add the soy sauce, chilli, ginger, tamarind paste, star anise and pineapple and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the reduced rabbit stock and cook for another 2 minutes.
Return the rabbit legs to the pan and turn them in the sauce to glaze. Season to taste.
Lift the legs out, place onto a serving dish and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle with the chopped chilli and coriander and finish with the lime zest.
Serve with steamed jasmine rice with toasted sesame seeds.
Recipe created by Rachel Green, image by Michael Powell.
The Eat Game Awards aim to celebrate the best of wild British produce by recognizing great culinary achievements and other contributions to the cooking and eating of game. They offer those less familiar with game the chance to get a better understanding of how to cook it and the confidence to include it in their regular culinary repertoires.
Learn more about the Eat Game Awards here
Ingredients
Serves: 2-4
Rapeseed oil
4 rabbit legs, or 1 whole rabbit jointed
300ml hot chicken stock
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
2 cardamom pods
2 garlic cloves, peeled
½ tbsp coriander seeds
6 black peppercorns
Sea salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
1 red chilli, finely chopped, to serve
2 tsp chopped coriander leaves, to serve
Zest of 1 lime, to serve
For the sweet and sour sauce:
150ml malt vinegar
150g caster sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 small red chilli, chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tbsp tamarind paste
4 x star anise
½ pineapple, skin, eyes and core removed, diced