Ingredients
For the Turkey:
- 1 (3-4-lb.) skin-on, bone-in turkey thigh (you can use breast if preferred) or 2 lbs. leftover cooked turkey plus turkey carcass (if you’re making the broth)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ½ cup store bought chicken broth (if you are not making the broth)
If making the broth:
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 5 scallions, trimmed and cut into 2” pieces
- 2 (2″) piece ginger, peeled, sliced ¼” thick
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed
- 4 whole star anise
If making fried shallots:
- ½ cup high-quality lard, turkey fat, duck fat, or neutral oil
- 5 shallots (about 6 oz.), shaved on a mandoline or very thinly sliced by hand
For the Sauce:
- Fried shallots from above recipe or 1 cup store bought fried shallots plus 1 Tablespoon neutral oil
- 6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 2 Tablespoons michiu (Taiwanese rice wine), shaoxing wine, or sake
- 2 Tablespoons light colored soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- 1 ½ cups turkey broth from recipe above or store bought chicken broth
For the Rice:
- 2 cups raw rice
- 2 cups turkey broth from recipe above or store bought chicken broth
Garnish:
- Minced scallion
Instructions
If starting with leftover turkey and you want to make the broth with carcass:
Break the carcass into manageable pieces that will fit into a large pot. Add the scallions, ginger, star anise, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, partially covered with a lid, skimming foam from the surface as needed. Do not skim the fat if you want to use it to fry the shallots. Simmer for 60 minutes.
Strain stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heatproof bowl; discard solids. If you want to use the fat from the stock, either spoon it off, or pour it into a separator first and pour it off. Set it aside for frying the shallots. Pour 1 ½ cups stock into a large heatproof measuring glass and set aside for sauce; reserve remaining stock for cooking the rice (2 cups) and re-heating the turkey (½ cup).
Shred turkey with a fork or your hands, removing any skin or chop it up and use it with the meat if you prefer). Set aside or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Brine the turkey if using raw
If using a raw turkey, sprinkle turkey all over with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon white pepper; place on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet and chill, uncovered, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. (This dry brine will result in more tender, flavorful meat.)
Cook the turkey and make the stock
Place the turkey, scallions, ginger, star anise, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a stockpot. Pour in 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium, partially cover with a lid, skim foam from surface as needed, and simmer for 75 minutes. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let it sit until cool enough to handle. Shred turkey with a fork or your hands, removing and discarding skin if you are not going to render the fat for frying the shallots (or chop it up and use it with the meat if you prefer).
Strain the stock through a mesh sieve into a large heatproof bowl; discard solids. If you want to use the fat from the stock, either spoon it off, or pour the stock into a separator, letting it sit for a couple minutes until the liquid and fat separate. Then pour off the stock and the remaining liquid will be the fat. Set it aside for frying the shallots. You will need 1 ½ cups of stock for the sauce, 2 cups for the rice, and ½ cup to heat up the turkey if you need to reheat it.
Make the turkey fat** (completely optional, you can also use any saved fat or neutral oil)
Peel the cooked skin off of the turkey and place it into a small dry skillet.
Then add the fat from the stock into the skillet with the skin. Turn the heat to medium. At first the skillet will bubble as any remaining water evaporates. Once the bubbling stops, turn the heat to low and cook slowly. The turkey skin will crisp as the fat renders. This takes about 30 minutes. Take the turkey skin out and either eat or discard. You will need ½ cup of fat. Use neutral oil to make up any difference.
Fry the shallots (also optional)*:
Heat lard/oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add ½ of the shallots and fry, using chopsticks or tongs to tease apart into separate pieces. Continue to cook, until golden brown, about 4-7 minutes total. If your shallots are browning too quickly, turn the heat down and pull the pan off the heat for a minute to cool it off.
Drain the shallots in a fine-mesh sieve set over a heatproof bowl. Repeat with the remaining shallots, reserving the oil to make the sauce. Transfer shallots to paper towels to finish draining; set aside. Shallots will crisp as they cool.
Make the Sauce:
Heat 1 tablespoon of the reserved shallot oil (or regular oil if you did not make the fried shallots) over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant and just starting to color, about 20 seconds. Add the michiu wine (or shaoxing which is easier to find), soy sauce, sugar, ground white pepper, half of the fried shallots, and the reserved 1 ½ cups stock (if you haven’t made the turkey stock use chicken broth instead). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced by half and glossy, about 25 minutes.
Cook the rice either using a pot or rice cooker (Pot method is below):
Rinse the rice and drain it, placing it in a heavy pot (I put the rice in the pot and fill with running water to cover the rice. Swish the rice around with your hands. Repeat twice more, draining the water.) Add 2 cups of the reserved stock or chicken stock. Let the rice sit for 30 minutes. Put the rice on the stove and bring the rice to a simmer over medium heat. Cover with a tight fitting lid and lower the heat to medium low. Cook for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to low and continue cooking for 10 more minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 10 minutes.
Reheating cold turkey if you’ve made it ahead:
Put the turkey in a skillet/pan and drizzle with ½ cup turkey stock. Cover with a lid. Heat on low until the turkey is warmed through, about 15 minutes. You can also microwave the turkey for a couple minutes.
Plate the turkey rice:
Use a spatula to divide the rice among bowls and pile shredded turkey onto. Spoon 3 tablespoons of sauce over each bowl and top with reserved fried shallots and a little minced scallion.
Keywords: rice, turkey, Taiwanese, leftovers, Thanksgiving, comfort food,
