Post 42.2: Thanksgiving Leftovers - Turkey Curry in a Hurry

Families try to get creative with their turkeys every year... some switch it up with tofurkey, and others may feast over a deep fried turkey at the dinner table.  But the leftovers seem to always be the same.  We can get creative with not just Thanksgiving dinner but with our Thanksgiving leftovers too, right?

With the exception of the one or two years we had hot pot for Thanksgiving, we've had many years of Taiwanese-influenced turkey rice porridge for breakfast, mile-high turkey sandwiches and shredded turkey salads for lunch, and turkey noodle soup at dinner.  Last year my dad thought it would be a great idea to toss the leftover shreds of turkey into Japanese style curry sauce and serve it over rice.  Here's how we get rid of our turkey even before Christmas rolls around.

The products:

The process:

Brown the onions with vegetable oil.  Sprinkle in salt, black and white pepper.
Toss in corn from a can.  Mix together.

Dice potatoes in bite-sized cubes and toss in.  Sizzle with butter and curry powder.

After a good sizzle, add enough water to cover the top of the potatoes.
Blend cubes of curry and stir until fully dissolved.  Simmer.

Shred leftover turkey with a fork.  Incorporate into the curry sauce.
Adding the turkey to the sauce early on dries out the turkey... and nobody likes dry turkey.

Pour curry sauce over the top of steamed rice, preferably short grain Japanese rice.

Some variations that I've found to be just as good:

1.  Garnish with thinly sliced almonds for crunch.
2.   Use carrots and celery instead of corn.
3.  Pour curry sauce over instant ramen noodles.
4.  Top the curry off with a poached egg for breakfast or brunch.
5.  Substitute turkey and curry for ham and Hollandaise in your brunch benedict.

What does your family do with the leftover Thanksgiving turkey?

ML - 20101220/20101219

Post 42.1: Thanksgiving Means Turkey... Not Hot Pot

A tour guest recently asked me what a Taiwanese Thanksgiving feast is like.  Hmmm... I had never really thought about it... but I can't speak for other Taiwanese or Taiwanese-Americans.  

For me I guess I always took Thanksgiving to mean turkey, and anything Taiwanese would be saved for the remaining 364 days of the year.  Anytime any family member proposed to have hot pot for Thanksgiving, I put up strong opposition, and that usually led to our having a turkey at Thanksgiving.  

The one year that hot pot was elected over turkey, my cousins and I boycotted dinner with an I Love Lucy style hunger strike.  There was much yelling, but there was even more silence.  Not that my family ever ate hot pot on a regular basis, but hot pot was too typical of a meal for me... it wasn't special enough for this once-in-a-year holiday.  I mean... I don't particularly like turkey, but Thanksgiving without turkey is like Old Glory without the stars and stripes.  Thanksgiving meant turkey, and my cousins and I would find a way to get our roasted bird no matter what it took.... even if it was compromised with sticky rice stuffing.

This was the spread at Aunt Christy's house this year. 

Cream of mushroom soup with a swirl of sour cream and Pillsbury croissants.

Ham from Honey Baked Ham Company.

Condiments are champagne honey mustard and pineapple marmalade.

Originally prepared as asparagus in garlic and olive oil.

But later tossed into a salad of mixed greens and crispy bacon.

The golden turkey.  No stuffing... but surrounded by mini potatoes.

My aunt made the Cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries and added orange zest to it.

The seafood dishes are must haves in our family.

Shrimp cocktail with cocktail sauce on ice.  Linguine and clams with a forest of parsley.

Sweet potato casserole with brown sugar and pecan crust from Ruth's Chris.

No mashed potatoes this year? No problem.  Bye bye flat stomach.

If Aunt Jessica were stateside this year, there be two or three Marie Callender's pies on the table too, which probably makes our feast probably indistinguishable from from any other typical family's Thanksgiving feast... so I'm not sure if that answers the question, "What is a Taiwanese Thanksgiving feast like?"

But to throw in a little variation... how about another Taiwanese-American Thanksgiving feast from across town? Aunt Li doesn't eat turkey, chicken... or anything that walks on two feet, and her Thanksgiving dinner guests don't eat beef.  The compromise? Pork ribs from Tony Roma's. 

What was your Thanksgiving feast like?

ML - 20101202/20101125