2    Squabs, 1 lb each

      2 tb Peanut oil

      2    Garlic cloves; minced

     10    Fresh water chestnuts

           - peeled and minced
    1/2 c  Minced bamboo shoots

      6    Chinese black mushrooms

           - soaked, squeezed dry
           -  and minced
      4    Scallions; minced

      6    Dried oysters (optional)

           -soaked, squeezed dry
           - and minced   OR
      4    -duck liver sausages, minced

    1/2 ts Minced fresh ginger root

    1/2 c  Chicken broth

           - reduced with squab bones
      1 ts Sugar

      2 tb Light soy sauce

      2 tb Chinese rice wine

           -or dry sherry
      1 tb Oyster sauce

      1 ts Cornstarch; dissolved in

      1 tb Chicken broth; (cold)

      2    Heads bibb lettuce

           -(or iceberg lettuce)
           -leaves carefully separated
           -into lettuce cups
  This is frequently served at special occasions in Chinese restaurants.
  Presented as an appetizer, it will serve 6.
  USING A THIN CLEAVER, cut away the wings and thigh joints and pull off the
  skin, cutting it where necessary. Set the skin aside. Bone the breasts.
  Scrape all the meat you can from the bone. Neatness does not count! To
  remove the leg meat, make a slit the length of the leg to the bone. Pull
  the meat away, cutting it off the bone where necessary. Remove the small
  but tough tendon from each leg. Bone the second squab, then add the bones,
  feet, heads and wings to 1 cup chicken broth and reduce the liquid to 1/2
  cup. With 2 cleavers, start chopping the meat, until finely minced. Set
  aside. Thinly slice the squab skin. Stir-fry the skin in a little oil to
  render the fat and crisp the skin. This takes about 10 minutes. As the skin
  browns, move it up the side of the wok. Set the crisped skin aside. The
  preceding steps can be done up to 8 hours in advance. Keep the minced squab
  refrigerated if it must stand longer than 1 hour. Stir-fry the squab in the
  oil with the garlic over high heat until is is browned lightly. Add the
  remaining minced ingredients, mix them well and add the reduced chicken
  broth, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine or sherry and oyster sauce. Bring the
  mixture to a boil and stir in the cornstarch dissolved in broth. Stir in
  the crisped skin and transfer the mixture to a serving plate. Serve the
  dish surrounded by lettuce cups. Each diner wraps some of the squab mixture
  in a lettuce cup.