Turkey and Chinese food?

[hzrt8w]

In the spirit of the U.S. Thanks-Giving holidays... Let's talk TURKEY!

Turkey doesn't really exist in the Chinese food dictionary. There is no traditional dish that uses turkey as an ingredient. Heck, we don't even raise any turkey!

Has anybody made any turkey Chinese style? Soy-sauce turkey? Kung Pao turkey? Turkey stir-fries? Orange peel turkey?

Any stories?

[Yuki]

One year my uncle made a turkey with sticky rice stuffing, it was so good because of all the oil from the turkey. Although that turkey meat was not that great..................

Then they would threw all the necks, bones and the white meat for a good pot of congee. Probably not a good way to use up a turkey but I guess they just don't like lean meat.

[hzrt8w]

Yeah, that's how to treat the turkey left overs too. Shred the turkey meat and use it for Turkey Fried Rice and Turkey Chow Mein. The bones and drum sticks and wings and neck -- use them to make soup, or congee.

I am wondering if anybody has attempted to make turkey (the first round) Chinese style.

[liuzhou]

There is a turkey farm on the outskirts of the city I live in, here in Guangxi province. I'm sure there must be others.

I have often eaten it in local restaurants.

[fee]

I believe that "turkey rice" (hou3 ji1 fan4 ???) is a speciality of one town here in Taiwan. I've never had it, but I'll ask around and see if I can find out more about it.

[spaghetttti]

Yeah, that's how to treat the turkey left overs too.  Shred the turkey meat and use it for Turkey Fried Rice and Turkey Chow Mein.  The bones and drum sticks and wings and neck -- use them to make soup, or congee.

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After meticulously removing the meat from the turkey, I asked around if anyone wanted the bones (carcass). No one responded. So I threw it in the garbage. Well, last night my aunt was looking for the remains.... she was planning to make soup or congee.

Mutual regret, she makes the best congee

Edited November 26, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[hzrt8w]

I think one can dice a turkey and make stir-fries and such, Chinese style. It may be hard to make turkey whole Chinese style. Soy sauce turkey? Deep-Fried turkey (Jah Gee Fo Gai)? Salt bake turkey? The main problem is: turkey being so much bigger than chicken, the timing can be hard to master. Besides, turkey meat is usally tougher than chicken. If anynody have tried it, I would love to hear the results. I hope your family doesn't give you funny faces. The risk is high...

[hzrt8w]

After meticulously removing the meat from the turkey, I asked around if anyone wanted the bones (carcass).  No one responded.  So I threw it in the garbage. 

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That's too bad. You can make good soup out of the remains of a turkey.

Throw all the remains of a turkey in a hot. Fill up with cold water to about 2/3 full. Take it to a boil. Then turn down to simmer and simmer for about 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours. After 2 hours, if you don't like the bones remain in the soup, you may take them out at that point.

Add the following vegetables (just a suggestion, you may add any of your favorite vegetables):

- 1/2 stalk celery

- 2 medium size onions, wedged

- 4 medium size potatoes, wedged

- 4 stalks of carrots, wedged

- 3 to 4 tomatoes, wedged

- 1 or 2 green/red bell peppers, wedged

- 1 chili pepper or jalapeno

- 1 can of tomato sauce

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 stalk of leek, cut 1 inch lengthwise

- 1 to 2 tsp salt (or to taste)

- 2 tsp ground black pepper

- some Italian herbs

Add all these ingredients in the soup and bring it to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium-low to simmer for about an hour.

To jazz up the taste, you may use a pan to heat up some olive oil, 3 tbl spoon of butter, add in wedged onions, shallots and galic to caramelize for a few minutes. Add some pesto sauce. Then add in 2 tsp of red vinegar, and 1 cup of red wine. Bring the mixture to a boil. The transfer it to the pot of soup at the same time as you add the vegetables.

The above recipe is not quite Chinese, but it is a good way to use the remain of your turkey.

[trillium]

Turkey jook rules at our house, and is a tradition carried over from S'porean side of the family. We make it with the carcass and then garnish with bit of meat and all the skin (after it has been crisped under the broiler) in addition to all the regular jook toppings. I came up with the skin idea, and every year I love hearing about what a genius I am when we eat it.

regards,

trillium

[Gastro888]

Funny, we've never cooked with turkey in our Toishan house. For Thanksgiving, we've always had a roast beef. My parents think turkey's too dry. The only time I ate turkey was as a part of the Swanson's frozen turkey dinner. I always thought that was the pinnacle of turkey until I got older and learned better!

Turkey jook sounds really good! Yum!

[Dejah]

Turkey jook rules at our house, and is a tradition carried over from S'porean side of the family.  We make it with the carcass and then garnish with bit of meat and all the skin (after it has been crisped under the broiler) in addition to all the regular jook toppings.  I came up with the skin idea, and every year I love hearing about what a genius I am when we eat it.

regards,

trillium

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I really like the idea of the crisped-up turkey skin on top of the jook. I will save all the skin from my Xmas turkey this year before serving!

Turkey is a must in our half Chinese household, for Thanksgiving and for Xmas.

We don't particulary care for "left-over" roast turkey or chicken flavour in our jook. This may be because it taste too much like "the other chicken and rice soup". I DO save the necks, stripped fresh carcasses/bones, and giblets for making jook. The necks are very good. My daughter likes the stringy texture the neck meat gives the jook. Any other time, she won't touch the neck...just breast meat! It's the Caucasian side of her coming thru'.

[jo-mel]

I've made a Stir/Fried Turkey with Asparagus for a cooking class. It was years ago, and may have been in response to a request for a non-red meat dish. It was OK. Nothing special but adequate for the need at the time.

My first Chinese Cookbook (and it has a special place in my heart because it was the first of my many 'teachers') was Calvin Lee's Chinese Cooking for American Kitchens. He has a lot of homey anecdotal stories in it and the one for Thanksgiving is a fun one. He said that his Chinese-American home always had a traditional turkey with the usual fixin's. He says "~~~~but don't underestimate the power of a Chinese matron. On the surface everything looks normal. Baked potatoes, biscuits, peas and carrots, celery and a huge turkey. But the bit of Oriental cooking will not be found on the surface because on this day it is hidden inside the turkey, in the stuffing" He goes on to say that the stuffing is adapted from an old Chinese dish -- 'lor mei gai' - stuffed chicken with starchy rice and Chinese sausage. He says "As a matter fact my mother, like other Chinese, eat only the stuffing because she does not like turkey!"

I have made that stuffing a couple of times and it is good! One time I had a fun-raiser buffet for 40 people and instead of having a fried rice dish, I made that stuffing as a side dish. It was a big hit!!

[lovebenton0]

Left over turkey, stir-fried with carrot and onion, ginger and garlic, soy, red chili, served with sticky rice. One of our fav ways to use up some of the meat. I always make stock with turkey carcass for soups or whatever. Don't care for the rice in soup that much, prefer egg noodles or lo mein style.

[hzrt8w]

He goes on to say that the stuffing is adapted from an old Chinese dish -- 'lor mei gai' - stuffed chicken with starchy rice and Chinese sausage. He says "As a matter fact my mother, like other Chinese, eat only the stuffing because she does not like turkey!"

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Lor Mei Gai is chicken and Chinese sausage wrapped by sticky rice. Now is Chinese sausage and sticky rice stuffing the inside of a chicken. Interesting episode of trading places.

[jo-mel]

He goes on to say that the stuffing is adapted from an old Chinese dish -- 'lor mei gai' - stuffed chicken with starchy rice and Chinese sausage. He says "As a matter fact my mother, like other Chinese, eat only the stuffing because she does not like turkey!"

←

Lor Mei Gai is chicken and Chinese sausage wrapped by sticky rice. Now is Chinese sausage and sticky rice stuffing the inside of a chicken. Interesting episode of trading places.

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Mei=rice / gai=chicken. Why isn't it 'lop' for sausage, instead of

lor'??

Lee's Mother's dressing also had walnuts in it. It really was good!!

[hzrt8w]

Mei=rice / gai=chicken. Why isn't it 'lop' for sausage, instead of

lor'??

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Actually you need to use "Lor Mei" together. It means sticky rice. Lop is optional.

It's Lor Mei and Chicken, whether you use one to wrap the other.

[Dejah]

"Mei=rice / gai=chicken. Why isn't it 'lop' for sausage, instead of

lor'??'

lor mei or nor mei means glutinous rice, which is used in this dish, as opposed to jeem mei which is long grain rice.

I assume they don't use the term "lop cheung" (Chinese sausage) is that it is a "given ingredient" in lor mei gai or lor mein fan.

[jo-mel]

Got it!! If I had seen the characters, I would have realized it. I know sticky rice, but think of it as nuo mi. The 'lor' threw me off, when the word sausage was mentioned. I'm still learning!

Thanks to both of you!

[jacko]

yes it is easy enough to find in Taiwan. There is even a chain of restaurants. It is real simple, served exactly the same way as Chicken Rice - that is just a few shreds of turkey on a bowl of rice. Very tasty though. I am sure the meat comes from America.

I believe that "turkey rice" (hou3 ji1 fan4 ???) is a speciality of one town here in Taiwan. I've never had it, but I'll ask around and see if I can find out more about it.

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[Raquel]

We use turkey all the time in our Chinese cooking.

When making potstickers (jao tsu), we use a mix of ground turkey and pork (a slightly healthier alternative!)... along with napa, green onions, tofu, seasonings, etc. This Christmas my sister and I will be making the traditional dumplings. After the filling is ready, the whole family sits around the table and wraps them together.

Last night, I used ground turkey in a snow pea stir fry. Turned out great.

Turkey is well-suited for Chinese cooking. It's mildness is the perfect vehicle for all the pungent, flavorful tastes associated with Asian cuisine.

[NancyH]

For those of you who commented about turkey meat being dry - the cure is to brine the turkey for 6-24 hours prior to roasting - the meat comes out juicy and delicious!

We've been using Alton Brown's brine the last couple of years:

For the brine:

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 gallon vegetable stock

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1/2 tablespoon allspice berries

1/2 tablespoon candied ginger

1 gallon iced water

This year, after I read about this idea on E-Gullet somewhere, I replaced some of the sugar with a healthy pour of real maple syrup - and it was the best turkey yet!

[hzrt8w]

The in-laws gave us a whole turkey (left over after thanks-giving). Here's how I used the bird:

Carve out the turkey breast. I used the bones and legs/thighs to make soup (see earlier posting for recipt). Bones from one bird is enough to make 2 big pots of soup.

As for the breast, I diced it up as if it is chicken. I used it to cook General Tso's Chicken. It tastes pretty good, comparable to chicken. I discovered that I just need to adjust the cooking time. Turkey meat takes longer to cook (about twice longer) than chicken meat. Other than that... I marinated it the same way, cooked it the same way, and it tasted great.

Edited December 25, 2004 by hzrt8w (log)

[sheetz]

Any suggestions for side dishes for a Chinese American Thanksgiving dinner? I'm making honey-soy glazed turkey, glutinous rice, and not sure what else would go well. I normally make a more traditional American style Thanksgiving dinner.

Edited November 3, 2008 by sheetz (log)

[djyee100]

Any suggestions for side dishes for a Chinese American Thanksgiving dinner? I'm making honey-soy glazed turkey, glutinous rice, and not sure what else would go well. I normally make a more traditional American style Thanksgiving dinner.

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I once attended a demo by Patricia Yeo for a Thanksgiving-like roast chicken dinner with fixin's. This was the menu:

- Potato Spring Roll Knishes

- Kabocha Squash Chestnut Soup

- Festive Roast Chicken with Rice and Mushroom Stuffing

- Sweet Potato Coconut Puree

- Miso-Glazed Eggplant

- Cranberry and Kumquat Chutney

Everything was very tasty. I later made the Roast Chicken with the sticky rice & shittake mushroom stuffing, and I thought it was superb. That stuffing would go great with turkey.

Here are the recipes on the web. A couple recipes are on Google Books, which can be cranky, so I've tried to include some search details in case the link doesn't work.

Potato Spring Roll Knishes:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...752C1A9669C8B63

Kabocha Squash Chestnut Soup:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...-FRAICHE-105526

Festive Roast Chicken with Rice and Mushroom Stuffing. Search Google Books for Patricia Yeo, Cooking from A to Z, page 144.

http://books.google.com/books?id=hKx5s2iGc..._search_s&cad=1

Sweet Potato Coconut Puree:

http://www.usaweekend.com/02_issues/021110...anksgiving.html

Miso-Glazed Eggplant. Search Google Books for Patricia Yeo, Cooking from A to Z, page 111.

http://books.google.com/books?id=hKx5s2iGc...cad=1#PPA111,M1

I couldn't find the recipe for Cranberry and Kumquat Chutney on the web. And I thought I was going to bat 100 here. But the recipe is short:

Cranberry and Kumquat Chutney

Adapted recipe from Patricia Yeo, Cooking from A to Z

Combine in a pot and bring to a simmer:

2 cups dried cranberries

1 cup thinly sliced shallots

1 cup kumquats, cut in half & pits removed

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup light brown sugar

Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and the cranberries are tender. Season with salt & pepper. Serve at room temperature.

ETA: As you may already know, you cannot copy digitally from Google Books. You will have to copy the recipes yourself with those ancient but reliable analog tools, pen and paper.

Edited November 3, 2008 by djyee100 (log)

[sheetz]

djyee100, thanks, those dishes look interesting and have given me some ideas. However, I should have been more clear and indicated that I don't actually want to make anything "fushiony," which most of the dishes seem to be. I think a menu like that is more suitable as a Pan Asian theme dinner for a Western audience than one that I would cook for a multigenerational group of Chinese Americans.

I guess what I'm looking for are dishes that are Chinese in essence but that also happen to fit the Thanksgiving theme if that makes any sense. Maybe something like taro steamed with kao yuk as it is sort of reminiscent of a traditional dish of potatoes. Or maybe something like cream of corn soup with some cubed butternut squash stirred in. I don't know, I'm just throwing out ideas.

ETA: Also, I want to mention that I'd want to prepare dishes prepared in a variety of different styles. So I might have dishes that are steamed, stir fried, deep fried, stewed, roasted, etc.. And the textures should contrast, too. Bonus points for things that can be prepared in advance!

Edited November 3, 2008 by sheetz (log)