It’s been 3 months since I returned to work from maternity leave and the biggest challenge has been learning to balance work (starting a new role), family and making time for myself. Stephen’s been amazing at his new role of working dad while I’m slowly coming to terms with the limited number of hours in a day. After a week of work and hustle, Stephen de-stresses by cooking and experimenting with new recipes while I crave quality time with family and friends. It’s been a great combination so far, filling our summer weekends with amazing food and company.
When hosting guests I like recipes that can be prepped ahead of time and customizable to accommodate personal tastes. Baos are a perfect fit for both criteria. The protein and toppings can be cooked separately, baos can be served hot or cold and best served assembled on demand. We’ve been eating a lot of turkey recently between smoked turkey legs (one of my favourite meals) and adding ground turkey to our pasta sauce, it’s a tasty and versatile ingredient. The light flavor of turkey also makes it a great protein to use as a base to build on from tacos to wontons to baos! It’s easy to ThinkTurkey outside of the oven and support Canadian Turkey Farmers.
We came up with two recipes for turkey baos, one that can be served cold and one hot. Both delicious and sure to impress. While Stephen and I choose to use turkey leg because we prefer dark meat, turkey breast would work just as well. Ready to steam bao buns can usually be found in the freezer section of Asian grocery stores. We bought ours from T&T and they were soft, fluffy and steamed in just 15 minutes from frozen. Each recipe will make enough turkey filling for 4-6 baos.
For more delicious recipes featuring turkey, visit www.ThinkTurkey.ca
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Turkey Farmers of Canada. All ideas and opinions expressed are wholly mine.
- 1 lb turkey leg deboned
- 1/4 cup potato or corn starch
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 inch of ginger grated
- 8 cloves of garlic grated
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sake or Sherry (optional)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- Wakame salad
- Kimchi
- Garlic mayo
- Roasted sesame seeds
- 4-6 frozen baos
- Cut turkey into quarter size chunks
- Combine grated ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, sugar and black pepper to create a marinade for the turkey
- In a large mixing bowl, marinate turkey for at last one hour, covered, in the fridge
- Add potato starch and flour to the bowl of marinated turkey and combine by hand until each piece is coated
- Bring wok filled with oil, to 350 F and fry turkey, a few pieces at a time, until golden brown and cooked through, 3-5 minutes
- Remove turkey from oil and set aside on a wire rack or in a mesh colander to keep them crispy
- Turn up the heat on the oil and dry each piece again for 1-2 minutes
- To prep the garlic mayo, grate 1 clove of garlic / tablespoon of mayo, adjust to taste
- Steam baos as per cooking instructions
- Assemble bao with deep fried turkey bites and garnish with wakame salad, kimchi, garlic mayo and top of sesame seeds
- To test the oil temperature, dip a bamboo chopstick into the oil and look for bubbles
- When frying, cook only a few pieces at a time to prevent the oil from cooling down too quickly
- To avoid the turkey from clumping together, slide pieces into the oil one at a time
- If the chicken gets too dark too quickly, likely the oil temperature is too high
- 1lb turkey leg deboned
- 1 tsp rice wine
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 4 tbsp red chili oil
- 2 tbsp Chinese vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame paste
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorn
- 1 tbsp Sichuan pepper oil
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- Shredded Cucumber
- Crispy Shallots
- Quick Pickled Radishes
- 4-6 frozen baos
- For the pickled radish, in a small saucepan heat 1/3 cup of white vinegar, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of water and 1 tsp of salt, stir until the sugar dissolves, do not bring to a boil. Once heated, transfer to a lidded container and add thinly sliced radish, pickle for at least 3 hours.
- Season turkey for 1 our with rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and white pepper
- Steam turkey until internal temperature reaches 180 F, about 20 minutes
- Shred the turkey or cut into 1inch chunks
- In a mixing bowl mix together ingredients for the sauce
- Add shredded turkey to the sauce and mix to thoroughly coat each piece
- For the crispy shallots, thinly slice shallots and lightly dust with flour and season with salt, fry in oil until golden brown
- Steam baos as per cooking instructions
- Assemble bao with sauced turkey and garnish with shredded cucumber, quick pickled radish and crispy shallots
- If you are having trouble finding Sichuan pepper oil, double up on the group Sichuan peppercorn for a similar numbing sensation
- A substitute for Sichuan peppercorns is an equal part combination of balck peppercorns and coriander seeds, however the numbing sensation is irreplaceable
- Peanut butter can be used as a substitute for sesame paste
- For the red chili oil, can use a store bought version or try this recipe https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/chinese-chili-oil/.
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