MUSHI KIJI (Roast Pheasant)

Ingredients

• 1 whole bird whole pheasant (Ask your butcher to clean and prepare the bird for you if needed. Look for pheasant at game butchers or specialty food shops.)
• 1 pound (approximately 450 g) small Japanese almonds (Small Japanese almonds are a traditional variety. If unavailable, regular blanched almonds can be used. They will need to be blanched (skins removed) and chopped very finely.)
• 1.5 cups prepared rice paste (The original recipe specifies this 'comes prepared'. Look for prepared rice paste (sometimes labelled rice flour paste or neri-kome) at Japanese or Asian grocery stores.)
• 3 cups mirin sauce (Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine used for cooking. Available at most supermarkets in the Asian foods aisle. Use more if needed to fully submerge the pheasant during marinating.)
• 0.5 cup cooking sauce (The original recipe references a Japanese-style cooking sauce. A light soy sauce or tamari is a suitable interpretation for modern cooks. A quarter cup goes into the stuffing; the rest is used for basting.)
• 1 tablespoon sugar (Plain white granulated sugar.)
• 1 to taste salt (Used to rub the bird and season the stuffing. Use fine sea salt or table salt.)
• 1 to taste pepper (Freshly ground black pepper is recommended.)
• 1 pinch mixed spices (A small pinch of mixed spices goes into the stuffing. In the context of a 1914 Japanese-inspired recipe, this likely refers to a blend such as shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven-spice) or a simple blend of ground ginger, cinnamon, and clove.)
• 1 sufficient to pour over the bird oil (The original specifies boiling hot olive oil or goma-seed (sesame) oil. Use enough to pour generously over the whole pheasant before roasting. Sesame oil will give a more authentically Japanese flavour.)
• 1 small handful, for garnish edible flower petals (Used only for garnish. Ensure they are food-safe and edible. Rose petals or chrysanthemum petals are traditional choices.)
• 1 small bunch, for garnish watercress (Fresh watercress sprigs for garnishing the finished platter.)

Instructions

1. 1Rinse the pheasant thoroughly under cold running water, inside and out. Pat it dry with paper towels. If there are any remaining pin feathers or fine hairs on the skin, carefully singe them off by passing the bird briefly over a gas flame or using a kitchen blowtorch — this is the 'singeing' step from the original recipe. Once singed, rub the entire bird, including inside the cavity, generously with salt. This begins to season and lightly cure the meat.
2. 2Place the salted pheasant into a deep dish or container large enough to hold it comfortably. Pour over the 3 cups of mirin sauce. If the mirin does not fully cover the bird, add a little more until it does. Cover the dish with cling film or a lid and place it in the refrigerator (or a cool larder, as the original recipe instructs). Leave the pheasant to marinate overnight — at least 8 hours. The mirin will impart a subtle sweetness and help tenderise the meat. The next day, remove the pheasant from the dish and drain off all the liquid completely. Discard the marinade. Pat the bird dry with paper towels.
3. 3If your almonds still have their skins on, blanch them by placing them in a heatproof bowl and covering with boiling water. Leave for 1–2 minutes, then drain. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze each almond gently between your fingers — the skin will slip off easily. Once all the almonds are skinned, chop them as finely as possible using a sharp knife or a food processor, until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs or a rough paste. Set aside.
4. 4In a large mixing bowl, combine the 1½ cups of prepared rice paste with the finely chopped almonds. Add the tablespoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, a quarter cup (4 tablespoons) of the cooking sauce, and a pinch of mixed spices. Stir everything together thoroughly until you have a well-combined, uniform stuffing mixture. Taste it — it should be subtly sweet, savoury, and nutty.
5. 5Spoon the almond and rice paste stuffing into the cavity of the pheasant, packing it in firmly but not so tightly that the bird cannot close. Do not overfill, as the stuffing will expand slightly during cooking. Once stuffed, close the cavity by sewing it shut using a trussing needle and kitchen twine. Pass the needle and twine through the skin on both sides of the cavity opening and tie securely. Next, truss the bird: tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wing tips behind the back or tie them against the body. Trussing helps the pheasant hold its shape and cook evenly.
6. 6Preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan / Gas Mark 6 / 400°F) — this is a 'hot oven' as the original recipe specifies. While the oven is heating, pour enough oil (olive oil or sesame oil) into a small saucepan and heat it on the hob over medium-high heat until it is very hot and just beginning to shimmer. Be careful — hot oil can spit. Do not allow it to smoke. Once very hot, carefully pour the oil all over the surface of the stuffed and trussed pheasant, placed in a roasting tin. This initial coating of hot oil helps to crisp and seal the skin.
7. 7Place the roasting tin with the oil-coated pheasant into the preheated hot oven. Roast for approximately one hour. During this time, baste the bird frequently — every 15 to 20 minutes — by spooning the pan juices back over the top of the pheasant. At the same time, gradually add the remaining cooking sauce (the remaining quarter cup after what was used in the stuffing) to the roasting tin, a little at a time, throughout the hour. This keeps the bird moist and builds a flavourful pan sauce. The pheasant is a lean bird and can dry out, so basting is important.
8. 8After the first hour, continue to roast the pheasant for a further 30 minutes. Keep basting with the pan juices if there are any remaining. If the skin begins to darken too quickly, loosely tent the bird with a piece of foil. After a total of 1½ hours of roasting, check that the pheasant is fully cooked: pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a skewer — the juices should run clear with no trace of pink. If you have a meat thermometer, the internal temperature should reach at least 74°C (165°F). Once cooked, remove from the oven.
9. 9Remove the pheasant from the roasting tin and allow it to rest on a warm plate or board for 5–10 minutes — this allows the juices to redistribute through the meat. Transfer to a hot serving platter. Remove the trussing twine before serving. Garnish the platter generously with fresh watercress sprigs arranged around the bird and scatter edible flower petals over and around it for a striking, elegant presentation in keeping with the original 1914 recipe.