Home › Wild Meat › Fried Rabbit
Fried Rabbit
If fried plain, the meat turns out too dry. But here's the old American way, if you must fry. Have rabbit pieces wet, dip in seasoned flour and brown quickly in bacon fat, or half fat half butter. Reduce heat, cover very closely, lift the cover quickly, pour in 3-4 tablespoons water and clamp cover down tight before steam rises. Let steam do its work and repeat when pan is dry again. Keep shaking pan gently and frequently, and never add enough water so meat stews. Make gravy at the end, with either water or evaporated milk. Mash the fried liver into gravy.
This is a fry that turns into a covered steam-braise partway through, which is the only reason lean rabbit survives the pan. The technique matters more than any measurement here.
- The hinge: cover fast, steam hardThe point of lifting the lid, splashing in water and clamping down again in one motion is to trap a burst of steam without letting the crust go soggy. If you dawdle, the steam escapes and the meat dries out; if you add too much water, it stews and the flour coating slides off.
- Pan and lidA heavy cast-iron skillet with a tight-fitting lid works best. A thin pan will scorch the flour between waterings, since the liquid is gone within a minute or two each time.
- Cut and timingJoint the rabbit into hind legs, forelegs, and the saddle cut into two or three pieces. The recipe gives no times: brown a few minutes a side, then expect roughly 25-40 minutes of covered steaming for a young rabbit and perhaps an hour for an older wild one, judging by tenderness rather than the clock. Cook rabbit through, to about 160F, rather than serving it pink.
- Wild versus farmedFarmed rabbit is fatter, milder and more tender, and will be ready at the short end of the range. A wild rabbit of unknown age is the one that needs the long, patient steaming this method was built for.
- Handling wild-caught rabbitTularemia is carried by wild rabbits and is contracted through cuts on the hands during skinning and dressing, not from thoroughly cooked meat. Wear gloves when butchering, wash everything afterwards, and discard any animal that seemed sluggish or had spotted internal organs.
- FatsBacon fat carries the flavour the recipe is after; half fat and half butter browns better but will darken quickly, so watch it. Neutral oil with a spoonful of bacon fat is a reasonable compromise.
- Evaporated milk gravyEvaporated milk is unsweetened concentrated milk, still sold in cans and a workable stand-in for half-and-half here, though a little leaner. It stands up to pan heat better than fresh milk, and being shelf-stable it was the milk a camp cook was likely to have.
- The liverFry the liver alongside the pieces for a few minutes only, until just firm, then mash it into the pan drippings with a fork before adding liquid. It thickens and enriches the gravy in the manner of a rough pate.
- YieldOne rabbit of 2-3 lb dressed serves two generously or three with potatoes and bread to catch the gravy.