Grilled Chilpotles Salsa Turkey Thighs

This dish mixes both Chinese and Mexican ingredients using turkey thighs, bottled salsa, canned chipotle peppers, and chilpotles sauce. Salsa makes a surprisingly good marinade for meats and the chilpotles peppers, which are dried smoked jalapeño peppers, adds a smoky spiciness. Add soy sauce and other Chinese ingredients, and you get a tasty meal.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

4-6 Turkey Thighs

2 cups Medium Hot Salsa

1-2 Chilpotles Peppers (La Morena brand), broken into small pieces

¼ cup Chilpotles Sauce (San Marcos brand)

¼ cup Soy Sauce (si⁶ jau⁴, 豉油)

¼ cup Thick Soy Sauce (zeong³ jau⁴ gou¹, 醬油膏) (see notes)

1 Tbs. Hoisin Sauce (hoi² sin¹ zoeng³, 海鮮醬) (see notes)

2 Tbs. Tequila

Turkey Preparation and Marinating Instructions

1. Place the turkey thighs into a large bowl for marinating.
2. Add the salsa into the bowl with the turkey thighs.
3. Break the chilpotles peppers into small pieces and together with some of the adobo sauce; add it to the bowl with the turkey.
4. Add the chilpotles sauce, soy sauce, thick soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and tequila to the bowl with the turkey thighs. Marinate the turkey thighs for at least 4 hours or overnight (preferred). The amount of the marinade may look like too much, but the turkey thighs will be dipped into the marinade during grilling, which will use up the marinade.
5. If marinating overnight, remove the turkey from the refrigerator at least one hour before grilling.

Grill Preparation and Cooking Instructions

1. Prepare the charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking following the manufacturer’s instructions. Light the charcoal or preheat the gas grill accordingly. If smoking the turkey wing parts, soak any wood chunks or chips (oak, hickory, mesquite, pecan…) for 1 hour before cooking if desired.
2. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the lighted coals to one-half of the kettle (as opposed to dividing the coals on two sides of the grill) leaving enough room to cook the turkey wing parts on the half that has no coals. For a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to which burners to leave on for indirect cooking. Add the wood chunks or chips for smoking.
3. Place the turkey thighs, skin side up, on the cool side of the grill. Cover the grill and cook for 10-12 minutes.
4. Uncover the grill and dip the thighs back into the marinade. Put the thighs back onto the cool side of the grill. Cover the grill and cook for another 10-12 minutes.
5. Uncover the grill and dip the thighs back into the marinade. Place the turkey thighs, skin side down, on the hot side of the grill until the skin crisps and browns (around 3-5 minutes). Since the coals have cooled down somewhat, the time needed depends upon the remaining heat of the coals.
6. Turn the turkey thighs over to brown the other side (again for about 3-5 minutes).
7. Remove the turkey thighs from the grill and allow them to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

1. Thick soy sauce is darker and thicker than regular soy sauce due to the addition of molasses. Regular soy sauce can also be used if thick soy sauce is not available.
2. Hoisin sauce is a thick sweet bean sauce and is almost black in color. Brown sugar or regular sugar may be substituted if you don’t have hoisin sauce.