Mesquite Grilled Ground Chili Garlic Oil Turkey Tails (燒烤豆科灌木蒜油辣椒醬火雞尾, Siu1 Haau1 Dau6 Fo1 Gun3 Muk6 Syun3 Jau4 Laat6 Ziu1 Zoeng3 Fo2 Gai1 Mei5)

Turkey tails are not the usual part of the turkey most people buy at their local supermarket, even though they are relatively inexpensive and available. If you’ve ever been to a Chinese delicatessen in the USA, turkey tails are a staple, often poached in soy sauce. So, they aren’t as uncommon as you think (you probably just never knew to look for them!). This is my grilled version of a Chinese delicatessen classic using ground chili garlic oil (which is made in Thailand!). You can, of course, use any other sauce if you can’t get ground chili garlic oil at your local Asian market.

Enjoy!

Steamed Ground Turkey and Salted Radish with Preserved Duck Egg (皮蛋菜脯蒸火雞, Pei4 Daan6 Coi3 Pou2 Zing1 Fo2 Gai1)

I recently posted this recipe: 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), which is the version of this dish using salted duck eggs. This recipe uses preserved duck eggs in place of salted, which for some people, can be disconcerting because of the appearance of the preserved duck egg. For those who feel that way, I say close your eyes and try eating it. I think you’ll like the taste, although I admit it is acquired.

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 a preserved duck egg.

Enjoy!

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!

Black Bean Chili Oil Ground Turkey with Zucchini (黑豆辣椒油意大利青瓜火雞, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Jau4 Ji3 Daai6 Lei6 Ceng1 Gwaa1 Fo2 Gai1)

This dish is usually made with ground pork, but ground turkey makes a good substitute when it’s handy. The dish is really simple to make and if you’re pressed for time, marinating the ground turkey can be omitted. This is a very inexpensive dish to make, since it’s basically ground meat with vegetables in a (spicy) sauce, and it’s one of the dishes I grew up eating. You can use any ground meat and any vegetable that’s in season to make variations of this recipe. I added Shiitake mushrooms, but the mushrooms can also be omitted if desired.

Enjoy!

Grilled Rosemary Fennel Sage Turkey Breast with Pan Roasted Vegetables

I cooked for my family this Thanksgiving and I did a trial run using a whole turkey breast, rather than a whole turkey, to try out this recipe. I found the original recipe here: Roasted Turkey with Thyme, Rosemary, Fennel, and Lemon. I modified the recipe to use my gas grill and made a fennel oil paste to coat the outside of the turkey. When I used a whole turkey, I doubled the marinade (and used a bigger pot!) to fully submerse the turkey. The marinade can be omitted, since it uses a couple bottles of wine, or the turkey can be brined. I decided on the marinade since I wanted to use up some of the wine I had around the house. After cooking was complete, my whole turkey took flight when it slid in the pan and dropped to floor once I got it back into the house (the turkey was still edible, but the pan vegetables were not). A picture of the mangled bird is included, so be careful when transporting your cooked bird.

Dropped Whole Turkey

The whole fennel seeds are toasted in a pan before adding olive oil to make a fennel flavored oil. The fennel oil mixture needs to cool before placing it into the food processor, together with the other spices to make a paste. The resulting paste will have large pieces of fennel seeds and rosemary.

A gas grill with a thermometer is necessary for grill smoking a whole turkey. Maintaining a constant temperature of 350⁰F (175⁰C) and previous experience with your gas grill will determine the total cooking time for the turkey. I have found that 12 minutes per pound (450 g.) produces the right results (again, previous experience determines total cooking time). So for a 6 lb. (2.7 kg.) turkey, the total time is about 90 minutes. The 90 minute cooking time is greater than the calculated time (which is 72 min.) because the grill needs time to come back up to temperature after the turkey is rotated halfway through the cooking time.

The size of your gas grill also matters since that will determine how many burners can be kept on for indirect cooking, which influences the ability to maintain a constant temperature. My gas grill is large enough to keep both end burners on during cooking, so I’m able to center the roasting pan with the turkey between two lit burners. For smaller gas grills, only one end can usually be kept lit for indirect cooking once the roasting pan with the turkey is placed on the grate, which might necessitate an increased cooking time. Regardless, the roasting pan should be rotated 180⁰ half way through the cooking time to even out any hot spots in your gas grill.

The turkey should rest for 30 minutes or more before carving, so don’t carve the turkey immediately after coming out of the grill since all the juices will not remain in the turkey meat and will just drain onto the cutting board. Carving is relatively simple: first remove the breast meat from the bone, and then slice each breast against the grain.

Enjoy!

Grilled Chili Garlic Sauce Hard Apple Cider Black Pepper Turkey Wings (燒烤蒜蓉辣椒酱蘋果酒黑椒火雞翼, Siu1 Haau1 Syun3 Jung4 Laat6 Ziu1 Zoeng3 Ping4 Gwo2 Zau2 Hak1 Ziu1 Fo2 Gai1 Jik6)

I used a bottle of hard apple cider, chili garlic sauce, and soy sauce as the basis for the marinade for this grilled turkey wing recipe. You can of course use regular apple cider in place of the hard apple cider; just use whatever’s available. The marinade is discarded and freshly ground black pepper is used to coat the turkey before grilling.

Enjoy!

Grilled Red Wine Turkey Wings (燒烤紅酒火雞翼, Siu1 Haau1 Hung4 Zau2 Fo2 Gai1 Jik6)

This is an easy to make grilled turkey recipe using just the wings. My local supermarket frequently has turkey parts, rather than a whole turkey, available and turkey wings are one of my favorite parts of the turkey to purchase. The wings cook surprisingly fast once the individual wings are separated and marinated before grilling. I also grill the wing tips, but can easily be omitted and used for stock instead. The marinade is also very simple and consists mainly of soy sauce and red wine, ingredients that are easily obtainable. While I didn’t add black pepper for this recipe, the wings are even tastier if the wings are coated with freshly ground pepper before grilling (after discarding the marinade).

Enjoy!

Grilled Barbeque Sauce Turkey Breast (燒烤火雞胸肉, Siu1 Haau1 Fo2 Gai1 Hung1 Juk6)

I was able to purchase a single half turkey breast at my local market, rather than having to purchase a whole turkey. Grilling the turkey breast after marinating is my preferred method of cooking. I used an already prepared bottled barbeque sauce made by Koon Chun Sauce Factory that’s added to the marinade in place of hoisin sauce. The taste is fairly similar, so hoisin sauce is definitely a good substitute if you don’t have this particular brand’s bottled sauce. Depending upon the weight and height of the turkey breast, indirect cooking on the grill takes less than an hour. Cooking another turkey half breast at the same time takes no more cooking time on the grill and makes great a source for turkey sandwiches.

Enjoy!

Grilled Sambal Oelek Turkey Thighs (燒烤素辣椒火雞髀, Siu1 Haau1 Sou3 Laat6 Ziu1 Fo2 Gai1 Bei2)

This recipe was updated on 21 Oct 2015. Some instructions were changed and the Cantonese name for the recipe was added.

Here’s another grilled turkey thigh recipe, similar to the Grilled Ground Chili Garlic Oil Turkey Thighs recipe. The main seasoning in marinade is Sambal Oelek, which is ground fresh chili paste. Turkey thighs are my choice when I want to grill a small batch of turkey. I eat some of the turkey and then use the leftovers for sandwiches. My local supermarket now sells two fresh turkey thighs in a vacuum sealed package, so it’s very convenient to just grill the two thighs rather than having to thaw a whole turkey.

Enjoy!

Grilled Garlic Chili Oil Turkey and Turkey Bacon Fried Rice

This recipe uses leftover Grilled Garlic Chili Oil Turkey Thighs. I used to use regular (pork) bacon when I made fried rice. Bacon adds a nice smoky flavor to any dish, but now that I more conscience about adding saturated fat to dishes, I use turkey bacon in its place. The taste is not quite the same as the pork bacon, but turkey bacon is healthier for you while providing similar flavor (I just use more). If you’ve looked at any of my other fried rice recipes, you’ll find a common theme– they are recipes to use leftovers. So when I go out to eat at restaurants, I rarely order fried rice!

Enjoy!

Grilled Ground Chili Garlic Oil Turkey Thighs

Turkey thighs are my choice when I want to grill a small batch of turkey. I eat some of the turkey and then use the leftovers for sandwiches. My local supermarket now sells two fresh turkey thighs in a vacuum sealed package, so it’s very convenient to just grill the two thighs rather than having to thaw a whole turkey. For this batch, I used ground chili garlic oil (which is more of a loose paste) as the principal flavor ingredient in the marinade. The ground chili garlic oil is made in Thailand and, from the picture on the label, is intended for noodle dishes.

Enjoy!

Grilled Apple-Oak Smoked Lemongrass Rosemary Garlic Turkey

This will probably be the last post for 2014. So with the last recipe of 2014, I wish you and your family a Happy New Year for 2015, and will see you next year with more recipes.

So the final 2014 recipe is for grill smoking a whole turkey with apple and oak wood that I made for my family’s Christmas dinner. You were probably expecting a photo of the whole cooked turkey in this post (it was impressive looking!), but since I was pressed for time cooking Christmas dinner, I wasn’t able to take any photos and the photo above is for the leftovers.

The turkey is made with a spice paste that is placed in the space between the skin and meat of the breast, thigh, drumstick, and back. The space is created by separating the skin from the meat using your hand or the end of a long cooking spoon. Even though the skin is separated from the turkey meat, it is still attached to the turkey, forming pockets for a spice paste. If using your hand to create the pockets, you have to be prepared to place your hand (and part of your arm) into the turkey. I use this method because I’m able to feel the interface between the skin and meat, and use my fingers to separate the skin from the meat without breaking the skin.

When I first thought about making the paste using a food processor, I wanted to use a fresh rosemary, garlic, kosher salt, and olive oil mixture. It’s a classic combination and I happen to have rosemary growing in my backyard. Lemons and lemon juice are typical additions, but I decided to give the paste an Asian twist by using lemongrass. Only the white portions of the lemongrass are used in the paste, and the inedible green portions, together with the rosemary stalks, are stuffed into the turkey cavity.

Inevitably, some of the spice paste gets on the outer skin when you’re putting the paste into the turkey. Don’t worry, since this adds to the flavor of the skin. The turkey skin is coated with a mixture of kosher salt, pepper, and baking soda. The idea and use of baking soda came from America’s Test Kitchen. The baking soda not only helps with browning, but also with crisping the skin. I used double the amount of ingredients called for in the America’s Test Kitchen recipe, keeping the 1:1:1 ratio of kosher salt, pepper, and baking soda.

Root vegetables can be cut up, coated with olive oil, and placed in the bottom of the roasting pan if desired. Pan roasted vegetables is a nice addition to the meal and doesn’t really add to the cooking time. The pan roasted vegetables also add some flavor to any gravy that is made from the drippings. I also put the turkey neck and organs on top of the vegetables in the pan to be cooked, but you can also omit these items and use them for stock or directly in the gravy.

A gas grill with a thermometer is necessary for grill smoking a whole turkey. Maintaining a constant temperature of 350⁰F (175⁰C) and previous experience with your gas grill will determine the total cooking time for the turkey. I have found that 12 minutes per pound (450 g.) produces the right results (again, previous experience determines total cooking time). So for a 14 lb. (6.4 kg.) turkey, a total of 3 hours is needed to cook the turkey.

The size of your gas grill also matters since that will determine how many burners can be kept on for indirect cooking, which influences the ability to maintain a constant temperature. My gas grill is large enough to keep both end burners on during cooking, so I’m able to center the roasting pan with the turkey between two lit burners. For smaller gas grills, only one end can usually be kept lit for indirect cooking once the roasting pan with the turkey is placed on the grate, which might necessitate an increased cooking time. Regardless, the roasting pan should be rotated 180⁰ half way through the cooking time to even out any hot spots in your gas grill.

The turkey should rest for 30 minutes or more before carving, so don’t carve the turkey immediately after coming out of the grill since all the juices will not remain in the turkey meat and will just drain onto the cutting board. I consider a turkey just a large chicken, so you can follow the instructions for cutting a chicken in the Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe to carve the turkey. Unlike the chicken, where all the meat will fit onto one plate, separate the turkey dark meat from the white and use two plates. In the end, the turkey was very tasty and my family was duly impressed with the flavor.

Enjoy!

Hot Bean Sauce Turkey (辣豆辦火雞肉, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Fo2 Gai1 Juk6)

Hot bean sauce gives this dish its spiciness. The serrano peppers also contribute to the spiciness, but also help to give the dish some color together with the red bell pepper. The black or cloud ear fungus gives the dish a slight crunchiness which contrasts nicely with the texture of the ground turkey. You can substitute ground pork for the turkey if it’s more convenient and you’ll probably not notice the difference.

Enjoy!

Bacon, Egg, and Peanut Butter Sandwich

I have to admit that this is a weird concoction, but it is a tasty sandwich. It’s the result of my love for chunky peanut butter, eggs, and bacon. In the USA, peanut butter (I use no-salt chunky peanut butter) is a common ingredient, but for other parts of the world, it’s an acquired taste. The saltiness of the bacon helps to make this dish tasty and I used turkey bacon, which has less fat than the pork version. I used garlic bread (bread baked with garlic cloves) for added flavor, but sourdough or any other dense bread will work. Try making this and you’ll probably be smiling like me while eating this sandwich.

Enjoy!

Turkey Chive Chow Mein (韭菜火雞炒麵, Gau2 Coi3 Fo2 Gai1 Caau2 Min6)

 

This recipe was updated on 23 Oct 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

 

This noodle dish was made from leftovers from the Pecan Smoked Basil Oregano Turkey Thighs recipe. You can, of course, use any leftover turkey to make this dish. I happen to have had chives, but you can substitute green onions since they’re more easily available. The sauce is simple and based on oyster sauce.

Enjoy!

Pecan Smoked Basil Oregano Turkey Thighs

 

Turkey thighs are a great when they’re grilled with pecan wood. The simple marinade uses dried basil and oregano, together with lemon juice and white wine. Any leftover turkey can be used to make noodles, such as the Turkey and Chive Chow Mein (Gau² Coi³ Fo² Gai¹ Caau² Min⁶, 韭菜火雞炒麵) recipe.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Bitter Melon with Turkey and Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇釀苦瓜, Dung1 Gu1 Joeng6 Fu2 Gwaa1)

 

This recipe was updated on 07 Jul 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added. A similar recipe was also added: Stuffed Bitter Melon with Pork and Chinese Sausage (臘腸豬肉苦瓜, Laap⁶ Coeng⁴ Zyu¹ Juk⁶ Fu² Gwaa¹).

This classic Cantonese dish is usually made with pork and without the addition of the whole Shiitake mushrooms. I had ground turkey, so I used that to stuff the bitter melon cylinders. Bitter melon lends itself to being stuffed, since the inedible pith and seeds in the middle leave so much space after being removed. I added dried shrimp to the tops of the stuffed bitter melon cylinders to add another flavor to the dish. The further addition of whole Shiitake mushrooms makes the dish even tastier.

Enjoy!

Clam and Turkey Chow Mein (蛤蜊火雞炒麵, Gap3 Lei4 Fo2 Gai1 Caau2 Min6)

 

This recipe was updated on 20 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

The combination of ground turkey and clams seems at first glance to be an odd combination, but it really does make a tasty dish. I used ground turkey because I had it, but ground pork would be a good substitute. I’ve eaten restaurant dishes where ground pork is cooked in combination with shellfish and sometimes vegetables, so that was probably the inspiration for this noodle dish using Bull Head brand shallot sauce.

Enjoy!

Turkey and Eggs with Bitter Melon (苦瓜火雞炒蛋, Fu2 Gwaa1 Fo2 Gai1 Caau2 Daan6)

This recipe was updated on 25 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I had some marinated ground turkey and bitter melon in my refrigerator and was trying to figure out what to do with these ingredients to make dinner. I thought about making a dish with a spicy black bean sauce, which sounded yummy in my mind, but I decided that recipe could wait until a later date. I then thought about the Eggs with Bitter Melon (Scrambled Style) (苦瓜炒蛋, Fu² Gwaa¹ Caau² Daan⁶) and Eggs with Bitter Melon (Pancake Style) (苦瓜炒蛋, Fu² Gwaa¹ Caau² Daan⁶) recipes, and decided that I could modify the scrambled style dish to incorporate ground turkey. So this recipe is the result, and you could just as easily use ground pork or beef to make this dish.

I usually buy and marinate a 2-3 lb. (1-1.5 kg.) package of ground turkey. Only ½ lb. (250 g.) of the turkey is used for this recipe, so the rest can be used to make turkey burgers or to make other dishes: Asparagus Turkey, Spaghetti with Basil Turkey Meatballs, Turkey Basil Cheeseburger with Tzatziki Sauce, and Turkey Basil Mushroom Egg Cheeseburger. The recipe specifies marinade for ½ lb. (250 g.) of ground turkey.

Enjoy!

Asparagus Turkey (蘆筍火雞, Lou4 Seon2 Fo2 Gai1)

 

This recipe was updated on 08 Oct 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

 

Asparagus and ground turkey make a great combination together. The dish is usually prepared with ground pork, but ground turkey makes a good substitute. The black beans in chili oil add spiciness to the dish. A prepared black bean garlic sauce can be substituted if no spiciness is desired.

The root end of the asparagus has a tough skin. The usual advice is to take the root end of the asparagus in one hand and the tip end with the other, snap the asparagus (it breaks at the natural tough-tender skin boundary), and discard the root end and use the tip end. However that results in a lot of waste (in my opinion) since the center of the root end is still tender and edible, it’s just the skin that’s tough. So I’ve found that if you use a vegetable peeler, you can remove the tough outer skin and use the entire asparagus stalk. It takes some practice to just remove the asparagus’ tough skin. My first efforts using a vegetable peeler resulted in breaking the stalks and/or peeling too much of the asparagus at the root end, so I had some odd looking asparagus pieces. I’ve tried using a knife to remove the skin, but I’ve found that with practice the vegetable peeler removes less of the asparagus stalk root end’s tender center.

Enjoy!