I was experimenting and mixing a couple of recipes and came up with this one. I am not a great lover of deep frying but this is worth it. You don’t need a deep-fryer all you need is a steel/iron saucepan and 1 ltr of rapeseed oil. I must admit it’s the first time that I have cooked rabbit; but not the last. I was pleasantly surprised with the result, even though it wasn’t quite successful. The batter was a bit thin & runny; thus it fell off the rabbit. Never the less it was fun and a very nice result; for all it was relatively quick produced. I changed the recipe to be coated in egg and bread crumbs. I went to the butcher who stocks game and asked for a cleaned and jointed rabbit. The pieces he had were too big so he cut the saddle in half and separated the legs. I ended up with 8 pieces and it wasn’t OTT expensive.
- 1 ltr rapeseed oil
- 50g Parmesan, finely grated
- 2 x 50g sachets panko breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 1 wild rabbit, jointed and each leg also
jointed into a drumstick and thigh - Lemon wedges, to serve
- Heat oven to 160°C/140°C fan and have ready a large baking tray with a wire rack placed over it.
- Heat the oil in a large, deep saucepan (or use a deep-fat fryer) until the oil reaches 140°C. Depending on the size of your pan you will be frying 3-4 pieces at a time; hence the hot oven. So fry the biggest pieces first.
- Meanwhile dry each piece of rabbit.
- Beat the eggs in a plate/soup plate (I like to add some herbs to the egg – e.g. salt, pepper and maybe some thyme).
- Mix the Parmesan and breadcrumbs on another plate
- Dunk each piece of rabbit in the beaten egg, lift out with a fork
- And coat in the bread crumbs.
- Repeat with a couple more pieces.
- Lower into the fat and fry for about 9 mins for smaller, 12 mins for larger pieces (11 mins if resting in oven), until deep golden and cooked through. Don’t overcrowd the pan.
- Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on the rack in the oven while you do the next batch. Never leave the pan unattended.
Serve the rabbit with a sprinkling of flaky salt and plenty of lemon wedges.
You can also add small bowls with mayonnaise and/or tartar sauce and/or sweet chilli sauce for dipping.