It’s Thanksgiving and many folks around the Island are deciding what time they should put their turkey in the oven and start roasting it for supper. After the meal or the following day another decision will be made: what do with the lovely leftover turkey meat.
To help you out, over the years I’ve provided many recipes using leftover turkey. They’ve included such things such as turkey fricassee, turkey chowder, turkey stew, grilled turkey sandwiches, turkey pho, pulled turkey sandwiches and turkey quesadillas, to name just a few.
If any of those past recipes appeal, simply Google Eric Akis and the recipe name and you’ll find them online. But if you like Thai-style food with a bit of spiciness, you’ll want to try today’s recipe, which uses leftover roast turkey and red Thai turkey curry.
To make it, sliced shallots, bell peppers and carrots are cooked in hot oil until softened, and then ginger, garlic and red Thai curry paste are mixed in. That mixture is then cooked a while longer to allow the curry paste to “bloom” and develop and release its flavours. Coconut milk, Thai-style fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice are then mixed in, creating a tasty base for the curry. In two stages, sliced or shredded leftover roast turkey meat, bamboo shoots, blanched green beans and cilantro (or Thai basil leaves) are then mixed in and cooked in that base. The end result is a hearty, Thai-style curry that is packed with ingredients you can serve with steamed Jasmine rice.
If you’ve not purchased them before, red Thai curry paste and Thai-style fish sauce are sold in the Asian foods aisle of grocery stores. Red Thai curry paste is a blended mix of red chilies, lemon grass, galangal, peppercorns, coriander and other ingredients. Just a modest of amount of it can add a world of flavour to a curry and how much you do add will determine how hot and spicy your Thai-style curry will be.
Thai-style fish sauce is pungent, amber liquid and an important umami-rich ingredient in Thai cooking. In brief, it’s made from a fermented and aged mixture of fish and salt.
With regard to your leftover turkey, when your Thanksgiving meal is done remove as much meat left on the turkey carcass as soon you can. It’s easier to get the meat off the bones when the meat is still a little warm. As noted in a previous column on this subject, according to several sources, that cooked turkey, any leftover sliced turkey from the meal, and the turkey carcass, which you can be used to make stock, can be wrapped and refrigerated for three to four days. It can also be frozen for three to four months.
Red Thai Curry Turkey
Coconut milk-based, Thai-style curry heartily stocked with pieces of leftover roast turkey, vegetables, bamboo shoots, cilantro (or Thai basil) and other good things.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: About 15 minutes
Makes: three to four servings
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium shallots, halved and thinly sliced
1/3 to 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 small red bell pepper, halved, seeded and sliced
1 to 2 Tbsp Thai red curry paste (see Note 1)
2 tsp chopped fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 (400 mL) can coconut milk
2 tsp Thai-style fish sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp lime juice
2 cups cooked, cold turkey meat, sliced or shredded into 2- to 3-long, 1/2 –inch wide, pieces
1 (227 mL) can sliced bamboo shoots, drained well
1/4 cup water mixed with 2 tsp cornstarch
10 green beans, each cut, widthwise, into 2 or 3 pieces and blanched (see Note 2 and Eric’s options)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro or small, whole Thai basil leaves, to taste
• salt to taste
Place oil in an eight-inch wide or similar-sized pot set over medium, medium-high heat. Add the shallots, carrot and bell pepper and cook until slightly softened, about two minutes. Mix in the curry paste, ginger and garlic and cook and stir two minutes more. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice and mix until well combined. Now mix in the turkey and bamboo shoots.
Bring curry to a gentle simmer, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain that gentle simmer. Simmer curry five minutes. Add the water/cornstarch mixture and green beans, return to simmer, and simmer one minute more. Mix in the cilantro (or basil) and heat through 30 seconds. Taste and season curry with salt, if needed, and it’s ready to serve.
Note 1: For a mild tasting curry, only use 1 Tbsp of curry paste. For a medium to more spicy curry, use 2 Tbsp curry paste, or even a bit more.
Note 2: To blanch beans, plunge into a pot of boiling water and cook two minutes. Drain well, cool beans with ice-cold water, and then drain well again.
Eric’s options: Instead of green beans, add 10 snap or snow peas to the curry, cutting, blanching and adding them to the curry in the same way as instructed for the green beans.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
