Poultry and Eggs · FFET10472
Pigeon (squab, Zhongshan Shiqi)
Squab is young pigeon; Zhongshan Shiqi pigeon can be fried, roasted, braised or cooked in soup.
Chicken, duck, goose and other poultry, with their eggs and egg products.
Squab is young pigeon, and Shiqi squab comes from Shiqi pigeons in Zhongshan, Guangdong. Shiqi pigeons are relatively large meat birds. The familiar crisp-skinned preparation involves marinating, air-drying and deep-frying; other preparations include roasting, braising and soup.
What
Squab is young pigeon raised for food. Shiqi pigeon is a relatively large meat pigeon associated with Zhongshan, Guangdong; its young birds are called Shiqi squab.2
When
An older culinary text records pigeon simmered with ham, though the available section gives no year. An account citing a local gazetteer says that Zhongshan people living abroad brought foreign pigeon breeds back in 1915 and crossed them with local birds, developing the Shiqi meat pigeon by about the 1930s. This concerns breeding history, not the beginning of pigeon as food.1,2
Where
Shiqi pigeon is associated with Shiqi in Zhongshan, Guangdong. A separate account traces red-braised squab as a dish to Guangzhou in 1885. That account concerns the dish, separately from the breeding of Shiqi pigeons.2,3
How
Crisp-skinned squab is marinated, air-dried and deep-fried. Pigeon can also be roasted, braised or cooked in soup; an older culinary text records simmering it with ham.1,2,4
Why
Shiqi pigeons are relatively large meat birds. For the crisp-skinned preparation, an account describes birds about 12 to 13 days old, marinated for some hours, air-dried for about an hour and then deep-fried.2
Impact and influence
In July 2022, Zhongshan held its first pigeon-dish competition, showcasing different ways to cook the ingredient. Reports state that Shiqi pigeon received a national agricultural product geographical indication in late 2020; the official notice was not opened.4