Steamed Ground Turkey and Salted Radish with Salted Duck Egg (鹹鴨蛋菜脯蒸火雞, Haam4 Aap3 Daan6 Coi3 Pou2 Zing1 Fo2 Gai1)

Steamed meat dishes are a staple of many Chinese-American home-style dinners. The dishes are simple to prepare and cook quickly. I’ve previously posted some steamed pork recipes: Steamed Pork with Salted Duck Egg (鹹鴨蛋蒸豬肉, Haam⁴ Aap³ Daan⁶ Zing¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶) and Steamed Pork with Salted Fish (Haam⁴ Jyu⁴ Zing¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶, 鹹魚蒸豬肉). Pork is usually the meat of choice, but ground chicken and turkey can also be used. Corn starch plays an important part in producing a tender mouthfeel to the meat. I have found that 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) corn starch per ½ lb. (250 g.) ground meat results in the best texture in the cooked dish. In this recipe, ground turkey is used together with salted radish, shiitake mushrooms, and an uncooked duck egg. Uncooked duck eggs can be hard to find and luckily my local farmer’s market has a vendor that sells them, but cooked salted duck eggs can be substituted and are sold at your local Asian market (just follow the Steamed Pork with Salted Duck Egg (鹹鴨蛋蒸豬肉, Haam⁴ Aap³ Daan⁶ Zing¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶) recipe to find out what to do with a cooked salted duck egg).

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Ground turkey (豬肉, zyu1 juk6)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1½ Tbs.	25 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1 oz.	30 g.	Mimao brand Salted Radish (菜脯, coi3 pou2) or equivalent, cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
2	2	Dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) cubes
1	1	Uncooked salted duck egg (鹹鴨蛋, haam4 aap3 daan6)
1 stalk	1 stalk	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
		Water for cooking

Equipment

		Garlic press
12 in.	30 cm.	Steamer (or larger)
9 in.	23 cm.	Plate or bowl for steaming
		Plate lifter

Instructions

Mimao Brand Salted Radish (菜脯, coi3 pou2)

1. Pour boiling water over the small dried whole Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid, remove the stems, and cut the Shiitake mushrooms into ½-inch (15 mm.) cubes. If you need to rehydrate the Shiitake mushrooms quickly, use the method described here: Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇, Dung¹ Gu¹).
2. Cut the Mimao brand Salted Radish, or equivalent into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
3. Thoroughly mix and marinate the ground turkey in a covered container for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, salted radish, Shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. I have found that 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) corn starch per ½ lb. (250 g.) ground turkey results in the best texture in the cooked dish. If marinating the ground turkey overnight, take the turkey out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
4. Wash and cut the green onion into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
5. Form the ground turkey into an even layer in the steaming dish and form a small cavity in the center for the uncooked duck egg. Crack the shell of the uncooked duck egg and place the egg in the center of the ground turkey.
6. Fill the steamer with water and bring to a vigorous boil over high heat. Put the plate with the turkey into the steamer and cook over high heat for 5 minutes before reducing the heat to simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the plate from the steamer with a plate lifter, sprinkle the green onion pieces over the steamed turkey, and serve with Clay Pot or steamed rice.