Ingredients

Partridge

• 6 young partridge
• soy sauce
• honey
• five spice powder
• zest and juice of 1/2 an orange
• maldon salt and freshly ground pepper

Sauce

• zest and juice of 1 orange
• 200ml chicken stock
• 1 tbsp honey
• mustard seeds
• cardamom pods
• aniseed
• 120g butter

Bok Choy

• 500g bok choy, trimmed and washed
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• sesame seeds

To Serve

• Coriander and Ginger Dauphinoise (see recipe) cooked in advance and reheated or begun 15-20 minutes before cooking the partridge

Method

1. To Marinate the Partridge: Stir together the soy sauce, honey, five spice and orange zest and juice in a large container. Remove any feathers that remain on the partridge by briefly placing the bird over a flame. Season the partridge inside and out with salt and pepper, then place them in the marinade and coat them well. Cover the partridge and place it in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight to marinate.
2. To Prepare the Bok Choy: Place the bok choy in a bowl and pour over some boiling water and let it stand for 1-2 minutes. Remove the bok choy from the boiling water and refresh it in a bowl with ice and cold water for a few minutes. Drain the bok choy and refrigerate until ready to cook.
3. To Cook the Partridge: Preheat an oven to 220C. Remove the partridge from the refrigerator. Place the walnut oil in an oven proof frying pan and place it over a moderate to high heat on the stove. When the oil is hot seal all sides of the partridges in it. Place the partridges breast side up and pour over a little of the marinade. Place the partridge in the preheated oven and leave them to cook for 10 minutes. Remove the partridge from the oven and carefully slice off the legs (trim around the legs removing the sinew) and the breasts from the carcasses. Wrap the partridge in foil and set aside until ready to serve.* If the dauphinoise is cold at this stage reheat it in the oven.
4. Sauce: Chop up one of the carcasses and place it in a saucepan. Add all the sauce ingredients except the butter into the pan with the carcass and bring it to the boil then reduce to a simmer and leave it to reduce so that it has reduced by two thirds. Strain the sauce and place in a clean saucepan. Return the sauce to a simmer, remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the cold butter piece by piece.
5. To Serve: Partridge Place a little walnut or olive oil in a saucepan and place over a moderate to high heat. Place the partridges legs and breast skin side down and cook them for a few minutes and then turn over and cook the other side Remove from the heat and keep warm until ready to serve.
6. Bok Choy Place the butter and sesame oil in a pan over a moderate to high heat, when hot add the bok choy and cook for a couple of minutes.
7. To Assemble: Cut the dauphinoise into 18 small rounds with a biscuit cutter and place rounds around each plate. Distribute the bok choy in the centre of each plate. Place the partridge on the bok choy on each plate (2 breasts overlapping followed by two legs). Pour the sauce around each dish and serve hot.