Hmong Squirrel Stew

Squirrels get a bit of a bad rap in the city. I think they seem varmint-like. I myself have been known to be a bit squeamish about squirrels - they seem ferocious in a small, toothsome kind of way. One time when I worked at the Hub Bike Co-op (in the VERY early days when it was still in its first tiny location), it was my day to "empty" the squirrel trap. We had some squirrels that would get in and tear things up, so we set a trap out and would then bike the squirrels to the river. The squirrel was terrified of course, and I had taped up the cage in cardboard, and stuck the whole thing in my messenger bag. The bike ride was only a mile or two, but I was sweating the whole way because the squirrel was screeching the whole time - on my back - and I kept envisioning it jumping out of the cage and onto me in some kind of self-protective attack mode. It released into the woods just fine, but I've harbored a small squirrel fear ever since.

Hmong Squirrel Stew! So delicious!

The first time I ate squirrel was a year or two ago, and I was a bit squeamish and preferred to refer to it as a "tree chicken." But they tasted great - like dark meat chicken - and this time I was not the least bit hesitant to cook them up. Two had appeared as roadkill right at the corner where My Charming Companion lives, and a third was somewhere on a drive he was taking last week. He was excited to skin them because I guess squirrel hides are really, really strong and make excellent rope when you dry the skin and twist it together. Strong enough that it is the preferred traditional material for stringing a bow. Woah. So he skinned them and I took the little bodies to cook.

I'd come across this Hmong Squirrel Stew recipe in the Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook blog awhile ago, and had immediately ordered the cookbook the recipe was based on from the library: Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America. It looks like a great cookbook and had some beautiful stories. This recipe is based on theirs, and it was AMAZING. The broth was delicious. If you prefer not to use squirrel, chicken would also be good, or shrimp. Really just make this tasty broth and eat it. I found that I actually thought the taste was best just after all the seasoning went in, rather than waiting a couple of hours. I am posting my revised recipe below, but click on the recipe title above for the original variation.

Squirrel meat off the bone - this is 3 squirrels

One thing to note: squirrels are tiny and have lots of bones. The ribs are more like a fish! The amount of meat on each squirrel varies of course, but it seems about 3/4 pound each. Be prepared for some tedious cleaning of the meat off the bone after you cook them. The cooking of the squirrel meat takes an hour or two, but once that is done, the soup will be ready in about 25 minutes. I made a couple of substitutions, but some key things: I think the lime leaves are important. You can get them at the co-op. I also think the lemongrass was key. I had fresh stuff in the garden, but you could use frozen/dried too. These really made the flavor unique. I didn't get galangal but upped the ginger instead.

Hmong Squirrel Stew
2-3 squirrels
2-3 T lard/ghee/bacon fat
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk of lemongrass, minced (white part only)
3 to 5 red chiles, chopped (I used a large jalepeno)
1 tablespoon minced galangal (optional)
2 tablespoon minced ginger, peeled
1 pint/2 c chicken stock
6 lime leaves, or 1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 pound bok choy or chard, chopped
1/4 pound snow peas (carrots work too)
1 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
Salt

Garnish
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (I used parsley)
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped mint

1. Put squirrels in a large pot and add enough water to cover the meat by an inch or so. Add a good amount of salt (1-2 T), bring to a boil, cover and cook for 1-2 hours, until the meat easily comes off the bone. Make sure to reserve the liquid (this is good stock for the soup), and when the squirrels are cool, pull the meat off the bones. Discard the bones and set meat aside.
2. Heat fat in a large soup pot. Add garlic, lemongrass, chiles, ginger and galangal and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add broth from squirrel cooking, plus another pint of chicken broth. You want the total broth to come out to over a quart. Also add the lime leaves and fish sauce. I love fish sauce, so I added a wee bit extra. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to simmer about 10 minutes.

Garnish plate - more mint!

3. Chop chard or bok choy (I used tyfon holland greens from the garden). I also did not have any peas, so I diced up a few carrots nice and small. Add greens and carrots/peas to soup, along with reserved squirrel meat. Cook for another 10 minutes or so.
4. Serve with garnish! The mint was delicious in here! Who would have thought - but I wanted lots of mint. I used parsley instead of cilantro and was quite content. This was so good, and so thick and yummy.