Friday, September 17, 2010

SINGAPORE TURKEY STEW

Clearing out my recipe folders ..tossing ones that no longer sound appealing, trying others to see if they are keepers.  Tonight I made SINGAPORE TURKEY STEW.  Though the list of ingredients is long, it only took about 1/2 hour to make...mostly the making of the meatballs.




1-lb ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice (or can use equal parts of ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger and ground anise ... I didn't have anise, so used a smidge of jerk seasoning)
1/2 teaspoon hot chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons flour
1 Tablespoon oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced (in Spain, it is called a tooth of garlic)
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger (had part of a root in the frig from another recipe)
1 can (13 oz) coconut milk
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 head (12 oz) bok choy, cut into 1-inch pieces (used Napa cabbage, next time I'll try spinach)
1 can (14 oz) baby corn, drained
2 Roma tomatoes, rinsed, cored and chopped (picked up a few cherry tomatoes at the Belpasso market today - used those)
1/4 cup drained canned sliced water chestnuts (will probably skip this next time or use jicama -- the ones I use had a metallic taste)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 Tablespoon lime juice
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro


In bowl, mix ground turkey, five spice, chili flakes and salt.  Shape into 1-inch balls. Put flour on a plate and roll the meatballs in the flour to lightly coat them.


Pour oil in 4 or 5-quart non-stick pan over medium-high heat.  Add meatballs in single layer.  Cook turning frequently, until lightly brown all over and barely pink in the middle (I cut a couple open to check - mine took about 8 minutes to get cooked through).  Remove from pan into a bowl and set aside for now.









Add garlic and ginger to pan and stir just until fragrant - 30 seconds or so.  Add coconut milk, broth and meatballs; bring to a simmer.  Adjust heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook until meatballs are no longer pink in center - another 5 minutes or so.

Stir in bok choy, baby corn, tomatoes, water chestnuts, green onions and lime juice and cook, stirring often, until bok choy leaves are wilted and stems are slightly tender - another 5 minutes or so.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro leaves and eat!

4 servings.   I don't know where I got this recipe from .. I copied it from something, but there is no page number on the sheet as if it came from a book, nor did I write a reference on the page anywhere ... normally I do that.

DH said he would like to have it again ...