Crispy magpie goose stir fry in sticky sauce

Magpie goose, either fresh from the field or out of the freezer, was consumed almost weekly while my family enjoyed living in the Top End.

Admittedly my first attempts at cooking with magpie goose were more miss than hit, and the meals received pretty dim reviews. Things took a turn for the better when I started treating the meat more like beef or lamb and less like poultry.

This particular dish, inspired by the smells and flavours of the many Asian food stalls at Mindil Beach Markets, became a firm family favourite. This recipe should yield sufficient quantity to serve 4-6 people, especially if served with rice or noodles and some Asian greens, but it’s honestly that good that there are rarely any leftovers when served to only four.

I can normally have this on the table in less than 40 minutes, but I suggest taking your time and allocating at least an hour so that you’re not too rushed.

Print Recipe

Crispy Magpie Goose Stir Fry in Sticky Sauce

Asian food stall inspired crispy stir fried magpie goose

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: asian, asian magpie goose, chinese goose recipe, goose, magpie goose, magpie goose stirfry

Servings: 4 hungry people

Equipment

• wok

Ingredients

• 4 magpie goose breasts
• ½ cup corn flour
• garlic salt or steak spice
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ thumb sized piece of ginger
• 4 spring onions
• 1 red chilli optional
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1-1½ cups canola oil or any neutral oil with a high smoke point
• 1 tbsp peanut oil

Sauce

• ½ cup hoi sin sauce
• ¼ cup light soy sauce
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine rice wine
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar or white vinegar
• ½ tbsp chicken stock power
• 1 piece palm sugar (crushed)
• 2 tbsp corn flour for a slurry to thicken sauce
• 2 tbsp water for a slurry to thicken sauce

Instructions

• To get strips of meat that are genuinely crispy on the outside and tender in the middle you will need to deep fry the meat and then stir fry the rest of the ingredients prior to combining everything with the sauce. This is best done in a steel wok over high heat.
• Start by preparing the strips of goose meat. I run a sharp filleting knife horizontally along the length of each breast, to create two fillets of half the original thickness. Then slice each fillet into strips around half a centimetre wide.
  
• Once you have cut all of the breast meat, spread it evenly across the cutting board and season liberally with either garlic salt or steak spice.
• Place the meat in a bowel and toss through half a cup of corn flour, coating each piece of meat evenly. You can leave the meat in the bowl, however I like to lay the meat out in a single layer to prevent it sticking together.
  
• Slice the onion, capsicum, garlic, ginger, chilli and spring onions and set aside. 
  
• With that done, place the sesame seeds in the wok over a low-medium heat and gently toast them.
• While the sesame seeds are toasting you can prepare the sauce by combining all of the ingredients (except the corn flour and additional water) into a small bowl.
• In separate bowl make a slurry from two tablespoons of corn flour and the same amount of water and set that aside too. Keep an eye on the sesame seeds while you do this and make sure to remove them from the wok as soon as they start to lightly brown.
• Now all of the ingredients should be prepared and within easy reach of your wok. Meaning that you can get the cooking done as quickly as possible and serve the dish while it is still hot and crispy.
• Add 1 to 1 ½ cups of oil to the wok and heat over a high heat. Once the oil starts to shimmer add a piece of meat, if it bubbles immediately the oil is hot enough to start cooking. Fry the meat in batches of ten or so pieces, but don’t crowd the wok. Fry to golden brown and set aside on a plate lined with paper towel.
• Once all of the meat is cooked carefully discard the oil. Add a tablespoon of peanut oil to the wok and toss the onion and capsicum constantly for a minute, then add the garlic ginger and spring onion, being careful to not let the garlic stick and burn. You should be aiming for onion and capsicum that is cooked but still retains a firm texture. Once the vegetables are cooked sufficiently remove them from the wok.
• Add the sauce to the wok and stir it around to ensure all of the palm sugar is dissolved, as soon as the sauce starts to bubble add in the corn flour slurry. Boil for just a moment until the sauce begins to thicken and then turn off the heat.
• Return the vegetables and the meat, toss well to combine. Serve immediately in to individual bowls, or a large share plate, garnish with sesame seeds, chilli and additional (raw) spring onion.