My family and I just had a wonderful turkey dinner, my first as host. I bought the turkey earlier this week, and was lucky to find a smaller one – we were only going to be feeding four people (my parents, my husband and I) after all. The turkey was already deboned and weighed in at five pounds. I decided to make an Asian-inspired turkey by marinating the bird in about 1/4 cup of a soya sauce/terriyaki sauce mixture with a bit of ginger and garlic (about half a teaspoon each) and some chopped green onions. After about two hours in the fridge, the bird was ready for the oven. Before placing it in the oven, I sprinkled more chopped green onions. The bird was cooked in the oven for just over two hours at 325 degrees F on a pan with asparagus and carrots (one note: asparagus dries out easily, so DelectablyChic! does not recommend roasting the turkey with it. Carrots are fine (and suggested), though).
We served the meal with a bread-based stuffing, but to make it more Asian-inspired, there’s always Chinese sticky rice (which was what my family always did when I was growing up). Just get sticky rice (available at Asian groceries or from the Asian food ailse at many non-Asian stores) and cook it as directed along with some Chinese mushrooms. Stuff half of it into the bird and cook the turkey as usual. This stuffing is absolutely AMAZING! It’s something that I will be doing for next year’s dinner.
As for what to do with the leftovers? My family traditionally made turkey congee (rice porridge) the day after Thanksgiving. It’s much lighter than fried rice or chow mein, and after a big meal the day before, you probably don’t want to eat much anyway. While there are tons of recipes all over the Internet, I like to keep mine simple – rice, water, chicken broth shreaded turkey and some green onions. If you have a rice cooker which has a porrige mode, follow the directions per the manual. Follow this:
1. In a large pot, boil eight cups of water and one cup of chicken broth with 1 cup of rice
2. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium or low for about half an hour.
3. Stir in the shreaded turkey and continue cooking until the porridge has a think, creamy texture.
4. Garnish with chopped green onions.
This recipe should serve 4-6 people.
