The Turkey Has Landed

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face! Today was our early Thanksgiving, and I had an 11am pick-up time for our turkey from Sam Woo. This November has been alot warmer then I remember, and I snapped this photo as I was out walking the "Boyz":

That's Fiesta Island, Mission Bay, and the Mission Bay Bridge; such a good reminder of why we live here.

I left for Sam Woo at about 1045, while the Missus started on her Dan Bing - Mandarin Pancakes; we'd decided on making this for the turkey. It is classically served with Peking Duck, minced squab, roast duck, and such. We were also aware that turkey can be a little dry, especially since this turkey would be roasted "duck-style." The recipe we used as the based on the one in Pei Mei's Chinese Cookbook Volume1:

We have always had good results from recipes in Pei Mei's Books. We did have to make several changes, and we'll note those. But as complicated as it may seem; these pancakes have only 4 ingredients!

Dan Bing

3Cups White Enriched High Gluten Flour (The English translation says Wheat Flour, but the Chinese version says High Gluten White, in cases like this we always go with the original.)
1Cup Boiling Water
1/3 Cup Cold Water
1Tb Sesame Oil

1 - Add 1 Cup of boiling water to the flour and mix well. Slowly add 1/3 Cup cold water to "dough", you may not need all of the water. Today the Missus only needed a few tablespoons. Knead dough until smooth. Cover and let rest for at least 30 minutes (the recipe says 15, but this  was not nearly enough).

2 - Working on a lightly floured board, divide dough into 2 parts and roll each into rolls 15 inches long and 2 inches round. Cut and pinch dough into 1 inch pieces. Flatten each piece with your hand.

3 - Lightly oil the whole top surface of one of the flattened pieces with sesame oil.

4 - Lay a second the second piece of dough on top of the oiled surface of dough. Pat down and, then roll the dough out, until both layers are very thin, to about 5 inch "pancakes".

5 - Cook pancake(s) in an unoiled pan using medium heat, until you see bubbles rise. (This will take anywhere from 10 - 30 seconds) Turn and cook until second side is slightly brown.

6 - Remove and separate the two pancakes. (Believe me, it does work!!!)

You can stack these pancakes and cover with a dry towel. Pei Mei also notes that you can make this in advance, stack, covered, and refrigerated. You then heat them in a steamer.

Oh, what about the turkey you may ask?

I arrived at Sam Woo, turned in my receipt, and the bird was brought out on a hook, just like the duck and chicken. It was then wrapped in foil, placed in a bag, and I was on my way. The entire car smelled of roast duck. And indeed the skin tasted like that of roast duck, though the texture was a little tougher.

The white meat was dry as anticipated, the dark meat had much more flavor. The white meat, with a piece of skin, green onion brushes, hoisin sauce, in a pancake:

Altogether delici-yoso!!! BTW, I received a quart of the duck "jus, sauce", or whatever it's called; but it's pretty heinous stuff. You'd be better off with hoisin. Altogether not bad, for a $20 Turkey. I also made some Gailan with Oyster Sauce, in addition to the other side dishes I had made earlier. We somehow managed to finish off half of the duck turkey, and the Boyz got a healthy share.

Tonight, I'll have a night of blissful Tryptophan sleep!

Comments

[RONW]

Did you recover the micro chip, Kirk? But seriously, was the white meat more of a dark meat flavor or moistness, because of the chinese imu (oven)?

[elmomonster]

Cool! Peking Turkey. So what's the deal with everyone having their turkey early this year? That is, if Mealcentric's turkducken had worked out.

[Kathy]

Making your own dan bing's and nimono dishes! Is there anything you don't make?! Glad to hear dinner went well - The mochi rice looks especially good. :)

[milgwimper]

I am so hungry looking the the pics! Everything looks really good, and I have saved the recipes! Is the Pei mei books in English or is it all in Chinese?

[Kirk]

Hi RONW - Yeah, I found it, it "micro-chipped" my tooth! LOL! The white meat is pretty dry, you really need to "sauce it up" somehow and make sure you eat it with the skin!

Hi Elmo - Guess we couldn't wait to start eating this year!

Hi Kathy - The pancakes were rather easy; at least that's what the Missus said. You'll notice that there's not too much baking going on this site.... ;Op

Hi Mills - Fu Pei Mei's 3 volume cooking series has the Recipes in Chinese on the left page; and the English translation on the right page. Pictures are included between chapters. It's out of print right now, but you can probably get it used.

[Barbara Fisher]

Mills--check Amazon used and ebay for the Fu Pei Mei books--they are out of print, but not too hard to find.

Looks pretty tasty to me, Kirk. Good going on the Missus' pancake adventure--they look very tender!

[howie]

It looks fantastic! I bet my parents will want to try their turkey this way.

I like the Pei Mei books a lot too. You can tell that some of the directions were not aimed at a Western audience -- like this one:

"cook until the fish is done (when the eyes pop out)"

Most of my dishes from Pei Mei come out well, but I think I've found instances where they mix up "T" and "t" which can make a huge difference.

[Kirk]

Hi Barbara - As I always tell her; dough is her destiny.... :o)

Hi Howie - It's probably good to start with a real easy Chinese cookbook first, but I always kinda look at Pei Mei's recipe's and make adjustments. The funniest recipe I ever got started with - "First catch the chicken, then slaughter the chicken...."

[lance]

That's a beautiful view from around your home. That's funny. Typical local boy got to live in view of the ocean. Thanks for the step-by-step photos of the pancakes. Very interesting the way a pocket is form by rolling two pieces together. Man, you two can cook all kind stuff. Winna!!! Thanks for sharing....

[Angie]

I like the Chinese take on the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Looks very tasty! So what are you going to do Thursday while the rest of us are slaving away over a hot oven?

[Kirk]

Hi Lance - Kinda ironic, I guess.... we had a bunch of fun making this stuff.

Hi Angie - Believe it or not, we're contemplating getting another Turkey from somewhere else...

[Janeen]

Hi Kirk,

I found your blog through Chowhound and really appreciate the care you take with descriptions, prices, contact info...and the pictures! The pix are wonderful and really round out this virtual food porn experience.

What was the green veggie you had with the turkey, it looked beautiful and what was the sauce that is dripped on it?

[RONW]

Ditto.

[Kirk]

Hi Janeen - Thanks for visting and commenting. For some reason ohanahui sounds familiar - is it through Chowhound? I really don't do much, just sit around and eat - the food does all the work. The green veggie is Gailan, also known as Chinese Broccoli - we call it Choi Sum back home in Hawaii. I appreciate your comments!

Hi RONW - Thanks so much! I don't know quite what to say...

[Jo]

I have to give those pancakes a shot Kirk... one of these centuries. You and Missus did a fabulous job! What's this about Mealcentric and a Turducken?!?! I'm telling you, the rest of the world can kill themselves frying turkeys, I am waiting for the day I can try turducken! Is he actually in NO or has he managed to get one shipped out here to California? Last I heard the producers (there was only 1 or 2 at the time) did not ship out of state. I sure do wanna hear about this experience!

[Passionate Eater]

Wow! This post brings tears of nostalgia to my eyes--it reminds me of my Mom's now-missing Pei Mei collection! I'm glad to see that the pancakes came out so well. Can you also have green onion pancakes with duck, or is that too oily?

[thess]

great job with the pancakes there! and that turkey skin,I'm just drooling for it right now!

[rooney]

re: turduckens there's a company called heberts one branch is in tulsa they have a website. send turducken all over. great stuffed chicken and sausage too.

[Kirk]

Hi Jo - You can check Mealcentric's site for what occurred - unfortunately he had to give up his Turducken. I'm thinknig about ordering one for Xmas.

Hi PE - Tell you a secret - we had a stash of green onion pancakes in the freezer just in case. I'm sure they would be ok, though you're right they are a bit more oily.

Hi Thess - Thanks much, though the white meat of the turkey was a bit dry - the pancakes with green onion, pieces of skin, and hoisin did the job!

Hi Rooney - Thanks so much for the info! We may have a turducken Xmas here.....

[Jo]

hmmm... Couldn't find Herbert's, but I did find that for $109, you can get one from Hickory Farms. Now I gotta find Mealcentric's website...