Turkey and Chinese food?

[Mr Wozencroft]

I've used turkey; and pheasant for that matter in chinese dishes. Pheasant sichuan chilli chicken was stunning but less so was the Turkey dry fried "chicken". Perhaps that was because it was the best lookin turkey in the line-up. We're just talking fairly white protein ar'nt we?

I'm sure I remember a post here talking about how good guinea fowl was for chinese dishes.

[liuzhou]

Pheasant is not uncommon in Chinese cooking. My local market almost always has them .

Never seen guinea fowl, but can't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

[Kent Wang]

What if you braise the whole bird in soy sauce? That's a common treatment for chicken and duck, though you'd need a really big pot.

[sheetz]

Thanksgiving was great this year. Here was my menu:

Creamed Corn and Butternut Squash Soup with Crab Meat.

Soy Honey Roasted Turkey w/ Gravy

Eight Precious Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaves

Steamed Pork Belly w/ Taro Roots

Stir Fried Sweet Potatoes w/ Chinkiang Vinegar and Brown Sugar Glaze topped with Sesame Walnuts

Blanched Asparagus in Soy Dressing

Szechuan Pickled Cucumbers

And for dessert, instead of Pumpkin Pie, which a lot of Chinese don't care for, a Mango Custard Pie--tasting like a cross between Mango Pudding and Egg Custard Tarts, but resembling a Pumpkin Pie in a appearance.

The meal turned out just like I had hoped it would--a Chinese style Thanksgiving without anything gimmicky. And it was pretty stress free as very little needed to be done at the last minute. I'm definitely making this menu again.

Edited November 30, 2008 by sheetz (log)

[Utenya]

Wow, there's already a thread about turkey and Chinese food! I created this topic in Elsewhere in Asia/Pacific. But here it is in the correct Subforum.

A long time lurker here, but finally getting off my lazy butt to post!

With all the turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving, it reminded me of how much I missed turkey rice (火雞肉飯) that I ate from street stands in Chiayi (嘉義), Taiwan. It was shredded turkey with shallots and some sort of sweet sauce over rice.

I tried making it the other night, carmelizing shallots, deglazing with soy sauce, chicken stock and adding some salt and sugar. It didn't come out quite like what I remembered. There was little or no sauce, and quite a bit darker than the one I ate.

Does anyone know the recipe for this?

Here's a picture of this delectable comfort food:

[v. gautam]

Is this turkey dish a specialty of this town or has it become popular all over Taiwan? It would be very interesting to learn more about how/where this topping came to be. Any thoughts, Utenya? Have you seen it in other places too?

In the India of my youth many many decades ago, turkeys of the dark-feathered wilder types were raised in small flocks by certain groups and brought to market for Christmas, but without exception sold to people cooking them in Western styles.

Whether they were deemed too expensive or scary-looking to be incorporated into native cookery I cannot say, but they never were, unlike equally vulturine guinea fowl which did get adapted to Indian styles of cooking. So the ready adoption in Taiwan of the turkey is an admirable leap over cultural barriers. I don't know if Korea or Japan have managed it yet?

gautam

Edited December 3, 2008 by v. gautam (log)

[Utenya]

Is this turkey dish a specialty of this town or has it become popular all over Taiwan? It would be very interesting to learn more about how/where this topping came to be. Any thoughts, Utenya? Have you seen it in other places too?

In the India of my youth many many decades ago, turkeys of the dark-feathered wilder types were raised in small flocks by certain groups and brought to market for Christmas, but without exception sold to people cooking them in Western styles.

Whether they were deemed too expensive or scary-looking to be incorporated into native cookery I cannot say, but they never were, unlike equally vulturine guinea fowl which did get adapted to Indian styles of cooking. So the ready adoption in Taiwan of the turkey is an admirable leap over cultural barriers. I don't know if Korea or Japan have managed it yet?

gautam

←

The turkey rice dish is a specialty of this town. It is so popular however that you can eat it in most other cities in Taiwan. They have chain stores in Taipei that sell "Chiayi Turkey Rice" Unfortunately they pale in comparison to the savory sweet shalloty taste of the ones found in Chiayi.

I don't know how the turkey became adopted into Taiwanese cuisine, though this dish is prepared with a Chinese flavour profile. I've never seen turkeys sold in their grocery stores or markets so I don't think there is anyone roasting turkeys. Not to mention Taiwan houses usually do not have ovens.

Upon further research it appears the sauce is made separate from the shredded turkey. The dish only uses shredded poached turkey breast. So where does all the dark meat goto? Perhaps making the sauce. Oh how I miss all the small eats!

[Ce'nedra]

I'm also interested in knowing the recipe for the minced meat and stewed egg on rice dish from Taiwan. Would the sauce be similar to the turkey one?

Here's a picture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aiyah/2110924983/

Edit:

Here's another

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdra/2615287803/

It seems pickled vegies are included? What kind?

Edited December 3, 2008 by Ce'nedra (log)

[Utenya]

I'm also interested in knowing the recipe for the minced meat and stewed egg on rice dish from Taiwan. Would the sauce be similar to the turkey one?

Here's a picture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aiyah/2110924983/

Edit:

Here's another

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdra/2615287803/

It seems pickled vegies are included? What kind?

←

Wow those pictures are making my mouth water so much!

From the pictures, it looks like braised pork belly. The way my parents have braised is sauteeing garlic, green onions, and then the meat (usually they don't use pork belly for health reasons). Deglaze with rice wine, soy sauce, chicken broth and add in a satchet of spices. I think it's cinnamon, fennel, star anise, cumin and cloves. The egg is probably a tea leaf egg (cha ye dan). It's a hard boiled egg with it's egg shell cracked and reboiled in a soy broth mixture with tea leaves and spices, usually 5 spice. They sell them at every 7-11 in Taiwan, and are great snacks! As for the pickled veggies, it looks like takuan.

The sauce is a bit different from the turkey rice. Shallots being the main flavor component as opposed to the different spices in the braised pork belly.

Edit: should we create a new topic Taiwan Small Eats (台灣小吃)

Edited December 4, 2008 by Utenya (log)