Japanese Sesame Wild Turkey
Oct 9th, 2008 | By Hank Shaw | Category: Asian, Recipe, Wild Game | Comments | 4 Comments |
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Hunting season has returned, and that means it is time to go on a wild game eating binge to clear out the freezer. We still have some of the wild turkey Holly shot last spring, so I thought I would adapt a Japanese recipe for toriniku shio-mushi, or cold steamed chicken with sesame sauce.
I skinned the turkey breast, then steamed it over sake and a little dashi stock for just a few minutes — I wanted the interior still a tad pink. With a wild bird, you can get away with this; honestly, with a high-quality bird you can even eat it raw. But I’m not there yet.
The breast meat is pretty boring subtle without the sauce. OK for slicing onto a sandwich, but pretty ephemeral without a dance partner. Enter the sesame sauce. This sauce totally makes the dish, and the key is to toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan almost to the point of burning. Without that rich, oily, smoky flavor, this would not be nearly as good.
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JAPANESE SESAME WILD TURKEY
This recipe is adapted from Shizuo Tsuji’s book Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art, which I am slowly absorbing, although I broke from his recipe in one significant respect: He emphatically says, “No Garnish” for this recipe. But I decided this needed just a few toasted black sesame seeds for contrast.
Serves 4.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
- 1 pound turkey breast
- 1/2 cup sake
- 1/2 cup dashi or chicken stock, divided
- 4 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt
- Black sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
- Pour the sake and dashi or chicken stock into a pot. Set a vegetable steamer insert into the pot. You will put the turkey breast on this, so you might need to cut the meat into pieces so it will fit.
- Bring the liquid in the pot to a boil, place the turkey on the steamer, cover the pot and let the liquid simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the pot covered until you are ready to serve.
- To make the sauce, mash the toasted sesame seeds in a mortar until they’re getting pasty, add the salt and sugar, then add the liquids — leaving the lemon juice for last. Add the lemon juice slowly and stop when you get a loose paste.
- Coat the steamed turkey breast with the sauce and serve hot or at room temperature, garnished with the black sesame seeds.
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I would say that the well-sourced meat trumps the finicky refinement of recipes. You’re a little coarse (in a good way) so your food should be too; what matters is that you do optimal justice to the creatures you kill by making them as delicious as they can be, notwithstanding traditions that aren’t even yours. It’s YOUR food, after all.
Wow. There are very few turkey recipes that I’ve ever found intriguing- this is one of them.
the sauce sounds tasty. we’d be happy to help you clear out your freezer of wild game
The art of Japanese Cooking is sitting on my nightstand after discovering it on your blog–thanks!! I haven’t started cooking from it yet. This recipe may be the starting point.