Cook Your Catch – Chinese BBQ Dove Skewers – Mourning Dove Recipe

The first big hunt of the year for most people is the mourning dove opener, a hopefully fast-paced and social hunt that ends up being a great time spent with friends and family out on the dove fields. A successful dove hunt also usually means dove poppers for most people. Instead, I have a different mourning dove recipe for you guys to try this year. Based on Chinese BBQ lamb skewers, these dove skewers are smoky and peppery treats that cook incredibly fast once you get done with all the prep work. So hopefully you guys have had a successful dove hunt this year and are willing to try something new and delicious.

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Chinese BBQ Dove Skewers – Mourning Dove Recipe – Ingredients

• Dove Breasts
• Bell Pepper (Optional)
• Soy Sauce
• Neutral Oil (Avocado Oil)
• Shaoxing Cooking Wine
• Salt
• Chinese Spicy Cumin BBQ Seasoning
• Corn Starch
• Water

So the first thing to do for the dove skewers is to make the marinade.

• 1 TBSP Oil
• 2 tsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp Shaoxing Wine
• 2 tsp Chinese Spicy Cumin BBQ Seasoning
• 1 tsp Corn Starch
• 1/4 tsp Salt

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix till homogenous. If you can’t get a premade Chinese BBQ seasoning, you can make some with 4 parts cumin, 1 part chili powder, 1 part sesame seeds, 1 part Sichuan peppercorn powder, and 1 part salt. You should be able to find the premade at most Chinese markets or online. This much marinade is enough for about a pound of meat. We had a suboptimal opener this year, so I only went home with 4 doves, so this amount of marinade was more than plenty, and the rest was used to marinate some skirt steak as well.

Now that the marinade is made, you want to remove the tenders from the dove breasts and then quarter the breasts.

We are still going to use the tenders; just if you leave them attached to the breasts before quartering them, the dove tenders will get mangled and be too small to cook well. Once you quarter all the breasts, put them and the tenders in a bowl, add a tablespoon of the marinade, and coat the pieces well.

You want to let the dove breast pieces marinate for at least 20 minutes but not longer than overnight. If you are going to cook these immediately, you will want to start soaking your bamboo skewers in water now. You want them to soak for at least 30 minutes.

This will keep the bamboo skewers from burning on the grill and also keeps them from splintering. Do not skip this step, as bamboo splinters don’t make good eats.

While you wait for the dove breast to marinate and the bamboo skewers to soak up water, you can do some other prep work. While it’s optional, I like to add red bell pepper to my skewers. It adds a nice pop of color and flavor to the dove skewers. Once the dove breast pieces have marinated long enough, start assembling the skewers.

You can go either with just straight dove breast pieces or add the bell pepper to the dove skewers. This dove recipe is pretty lax besides the meat itself. So if you want to add other vegetables to the skewer, go for it. Just try to stick with vegetables with less water content, so they don’t go soggy as you grill them.

I have a little steel fire box that I use for skewers in general; this helps keep me from burning the bamboo while still being able to have the coals up close to the meat. If you don’t have a fire box like this, you can still just grill them; you just have to build your fire a bit hotter. Also, for charcoal selection, I prefer a natural hardwood charcoal for this over lump coals; they burn hotter and give you a better sear.

Once the dove skewers are all prepared and the coals are ready to cook on. Brush some oil onto the skewers before you place them on the grill. This will help them crisp up better as they grill and cook more evenly.

Cook Your Catch – Chinese BBQ Dove Skewers – Mourning Dove Recipe

The dove skewers will cook pretty quickly on the coals, so be ready to flip them as needed. Making sure not to let them burn. If the oil drips onto the coals and starts smoking, move the skewers off to the side so you don’t end up with a sooty skewer.

As the dove skewers cook, sprinkle on more of the Chinese Spicy Cumin BBQ Seasoning onto them. Then add a bit more as you pull them off to give the skewers a nice smoky and peppery kick.

Serve them immediately, with some white rice if you want. They are also just great to eat outside with a cold beer right off the grill. Perfect for making while hanging out with your hunting buddies after the dove opener.

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