Turkey Ramen

By jonoandjules on 26 December 2024

So, here's what you have to do. Speak to whoever is cooking the Christmas turkey and tell them to save you the carcass. Break it into pieces, stuff it into a bag and put it in the fridge, you can deal with it later. You will also need some turkey meat, about 400g, but any scraps will do, so you don't have to take the prime cuts. Some day later in January you will be very pleased with yourself when you make this delicious ramen.

You can make the stock and freeze ahead, which is what we do. We also freeze the right quantity of meat in a freezer bag.

Wine Suggestion: This is lovely with a juicy, youthful Grenache, but avoid the big alcohol ones; look for warm spices but not a hot palate. There are some gems coming out of the Languedoc at the moment and Domaine Gayda's Grenache had a real purity and lovely depth; the gentle tannins complimenting the turkey well.

Turkey ramen - serves 4

a thumb-sized piece of ginger, shredded
3 tbsp soy sauce
150g shiitake mushrooms, halved and quartered
250g long-stemmed broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 x 275g packs ready-cooked egg noodles (or cook your own and run under cold water to stop the cooking process)
1½ tbsp toasted sesame oil
400g cooked turkey meat, shredded
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2 tbsp white miso
2 scallions, thinly sliced
a good pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 soft-boiled eggs, halved (to soft boil, add the eggs to boiling water, then boil for 6½ minutes and peel under a cold running tap)
sriracha sauce, to serve (optional)

FOR THE TURKEY STOCK:

1 turkey carcass, broken into pieces
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
woody herbs e.g. bay leaf, thyme or rosemary

To make the stock, put the carcass into a large pan with the onion, carrot, celery and herbs. Add 2 litres of cold water and gently bring to the boil. Skim any fat or scum from the surface, then simmer for 1 hour.

Strain the stock through a fine sieve. When cooled, remove as much meat as possible from the carcass and discard the bones and vegetables. You can do this and freeze the stock and reserved meat for later.

When ready to make the ramen, bring the stock to the boil and add the ginger, soy sauce and mushrooms, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook for 2-3 minutes or until just tender.

Meanwhile, put the egg noodles into a colander and pour over a kettle of just-boiled water. Divide the noodles between 4 bowls. Ladle over the broccoli, mushrooms and stock.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat and add the sesame oil. Cook the turkey for 4-5 minutes or until starting to crisp, then add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the miso and cook for a minute more. Divide the turkey between the 4 bowls, then finish with the scallions, chilli flakes and half a boiled egg. Drizzle over some sriracha sauce if you like.

(Original recipe by Adam Bush in Olive Magazine, Christmas, 2019)