Crispy Pan-Fried Hen with Sour Plum Sauce

I know this is not the world's most attractive picture, and truth be told, the real thing is not especially stylish-looking either. However, this little item is seriously delicious, and I do believe you want to try some for yourself. We fell on it like beasts, and gnawed on all the bones.It is a high proportion of fabulous exterior crispiness to very juicy tender insides, and tastes all buttery , which is great with the tart sauce.

The two things you will need, apart from a cornish game hen, are the sour plum sauce to serve it with, and some clarified butter. You can find the recipe for the sour plum sauce here, and you will probably want to make that ahead. It has a bunch of other uses, including a red beans dish, and marinated, grilled lamb kabobs. I expect you already know how to make clarified butter, but if you don't, I will explain it in an addendum at the end of the post. You will need it-because of the way this is cooked, it would burn with regular butter.

I adapted this version of the classic Georgian recipe from the excellent Please to the Table, by Anya von Bremzen. In addition to the short list of ingredients you will want a big cast iron frying pan, a heat resistant dinner plate and a weight, such as a smaller frying pan or brick. The ingredients per person are these:

a cornish game hen
a large clove of minced garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
sweet hungarian paprika
salt
pepper
sour plum sauce

First, split the hen down the center of the breast, spread it out flat, and remove the breastbone. Put it between 2 sheets of waxed paper, and pound it like crazy with a meat mallet, or heavy rolling pin, to flatten it up as much as you reasonably can. Rub it with the garlic, seasonings and lemon juice, and marinate it, covered, in the fridge for at least 2 hours-preferably a day.

Melt 3 tbsps of clarified butter in the frying pan, and add the hen, breast down. Set the dinner plate on top of it, and the weight on top of that. Cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes, without disturbing it. With tongs and a pot holder, remove the weight and plate, and turn the hen carefully over. Replace the plate and weight, and cook about 20 minutes more. Serve with the plum sauce, and some fresh veg. It is called "Tapaka". That is all. You will be glad you did. I completely promise.

addendum: Clarified butter
Melt a quarter pound of butter slowly, over a low flame, in a small pan. When it gets foamy on the top , turn off the heat and let it sit until the milk solids settle on the bottom of the pan. Skim off the foam, and then carefully pour the clear butter into a small jar or ramekin. This is the clarified butter, and will keep quite a while in the fridge. The foam from the top and the solids from the bottom are tasty on cooked vegs if eaten fairly promptly-say the same day. This is nice to know if like me you are, er, frugal, and can't stand the idea of throwing out a couple of ounces of your butter.

Comments

[eg]

Yum! I've always wanted to try a squished bird. They always look so crispy and good.

eg

[Julie]

I think you had me at "a high proportion of fabulous exterior crispiness to very juicy tender insides." Good lord, that sounds delicious!

[Melissa]

I've just been getting to know 'Please to the Table' over the last few days. This recipe is definitely going on the list!

[steven]

I'm with you all the way on the game hen, I'm not sure about the sour plum sauce, but if you say it's good, I'd better try it. I'm going to try to find an online source for a jar of it.

[Tanna]

Just the way a squished bird should be: exterior crisp, inside tender!!!

[lindy]

eg, julie, tanna: In addition to being really good, the squish-cooking thing is seriously fun.I especially liked the pounding on the bird part.
melissa-Like her spanish book, which I came upon first, it is just loaded with ideas. I couldn't believe it was under $13 on Amazon.
Serious bargain. Have fun.
steven-Clever fellow.. For some reason (say, intermittant stone dumbness attacks), it hadn't occured to me that I might be able to buy this sauce ready made. I'll be interested to hear if it's good.

[june]

Cornish Game Hens? Never heard of them.
Ah, June, that would be because they are from Cornwall, Connecticut, USA.
I'll let them know in Cornwall. And I like the idea of squishing with a brick - muscular cooking.

[steven]

Lindy, I haven't been able to find an online source, so I propose we find some plum trees and go into business.LOL

[lindy]

June: They are really just baby chickens, I think. And they are farm raised- not game birds at all. I believe they are just a particular breed of chicken (Rock Cornish) with some bit of game bird- partridges or something- in their dna.
steven-I don't know about the business part. I'd love to find some plum trees, though, I'm a plumaholic, and have always wanted a tree of my own!

[farmgirl]

Oh my. OH MY. Wow. Gosh I feel like a slug in the kitchen compared to you. : )

[cat]

I made this last night but it didn't turn out crispy. Was I supposed to put the skin-side down first? The skin stuck to the pan and came off the chicken. But regardless, the chicken was SO GOOD. I put some June Taylor Mariposa plum preserves on the side. I'll be making this again soon.

[lindy]

cat- I did do the skin side first, which is probably a good idea for unstickiness-, as it is before any of the butter is soaked up...but I still don't think it should have stuck. Did you use a well seasoned cast iron pan and all the butter? Shame to miss the crispiness, glad you liked it anyway.

[cat]

Ah! good, I'll do it that way next time. I think the problem was that after doing the first side, there was a ton of extra liquid in the butter, so it didn't really fry the skin at all. I will report back after the next attempt :)

[cat]

second time 'round, i think my problem is the heat -- i turned up the heat one notch this time, which browned the skin much better, but still not crispy! this is my first apartment with an electric range, and I don't at all understand the heat levels. so round three i suppose will be perfect! i also think my pan is a little deficient -- it's a really old le creuset which has a "nonstick" coating inside which is not really nonstick and not as good as a seasoned pan. regardless, i love this cooking method. thanks lindy!