Sesame Hand Shredded Turkey Recipe | 芝麻手撕火雞

Sesame Hand Shredded Turkey 芝麻手撕火雞 is a refreshing low carb recipe that is super quick and easy to make. This light mouth-watering cold appetizer is a take on the traditional Sesame Shredded Chicken dish by swapping the chicken for turkey! We love the lower calorie count, concentrated source of protein, and nutrient-dense turkey. Turkey tastes delicious in your favourite, everyday recipes. Turkey is an excellent option to add to your daily protein rotation.

For our Sesame Hand Shredded Turkey recipe, we used turkey legs and thighs. My family loves dark meat because it has tender and moist meat with wonderful flavour! It takes approximately 1 to 1.5 hours to roast turkey legs (bone-in, skin-on) at 350F or 30 mins in an InstantPot. If you prefer you can also use different turkey cuts such as split breast without back with or without skin. For more information, visit THINK TURKEY^TM and support your local Canadian turkey farmers!

Benefits of Turkey

• Turkey is tasty, versatile and very nutritious. To change up my recipes, I love adding turkey to our weekly protein rotation.
• Concentrated source of protein to help build strong, healthy muscles.
• Excellent source of Iron, Zinc, Sodium, Vitamin B12, Niacin, Selenium, Vitamin D, Potassium and Magnesium, Phosphorus and Tryptophan.
• Turkey is lean regardless of white meat or dark meat.
• Turkey is easy to prepare - bake it, roast it, fry, grill, pressure cook, etc.

I remember the first time I had Sesame Sesame Shredded Chicken 芝麻手撕雞 at a Chinese restaurant. It was so refreshing and appetizing! I loved the bright flavours of savoury with a good balance of tanginess and sweetness! I knew immediately that I wanted to replicate it myself at home.

How To Roast or Pressure Cook Turkey

Start by seasoning turkey legs with salt and pepper and a little garlic powder. Marinate for at least 20 mins in the refrigerator. If you are able to marinate overnight, even better.

Option 1: Roast turkey at 350F for 1.5 hours for approximately 1.5 lbs ( 680 g). Cook bone-in breasts, thighs, drumsticks and wings until a digital meat thermometer inserted into the meat, away from the bone, registers 165°F (74°C).

Option 2: To pressure cook turkey in your Instant Pot add 1 cup of your preferred stock broth - we suggest poultry stock or vegetable stock. Set timer for 30 mins under high pressure. Then 10 minutes Natural Release. Remove turkey and check for an internal temperature at 165°F (74°C).

Pro Tip 1: Discard turkey skin if desired. This will reduce the fat and oil content.

Pro Tip 2: Because this is a cold appetizer dish, you may choose to prepare this 1 day in advance and let chill in the refrigerator. 

How To Make Hand Shredded Turkey

Once the turkey has finished cooking. Remove from pan and let rest for 5 to 10 mins until it is cool to touch with your hands.

To achieve hand shredded turkey, you must hand-pull the meat apart. Skipping this step will not give you the satisfying complex textures of tender turkey. You will want long fibre strands instead of chunks. The purpose of this is so every shredded, every small piece of meat gets the sauce. It is so flavourful!

Pro Tip: If you are really want to keep your hands clean, you can opt to use two forks and pull-apart the turkey meat from the bones. Remember to save the bones and any meat left on the turkey legs later to make soup or bone broth.

Preparing Other Ingredients

While the turkey is cooking, you can prepare the other ingredients.

To make this recipe healthier, easier, and quicker, we modified it with everyday pantry staples. We used sweet pickles instead of the traditional sweet and sour pickled vegetable 甜酸菜. I think they taste equally as delicious if not better!

We sliced baby red radish with a mandoline and then julienned them into tiny strips for crunch. Because radishes are neutral in flavour, it was a great vehicle to used the brine from the sweet pickles to help 'quick pickle' the salad. Plus, the vibrant red colour just simply brightens your dish!

Slice Thai red chilis, deseed and dice. Use one Thai red chilli deseeded for mild heat; two for medium and three (with seeds) if you would like it spicy. We do not recommend making this dish too spicy because you will miss the aromatic sesame flavours.

Peel cucumber skin. Cut in half lengthwise using a chef's knife. Scoop out the seeds using the tip of a spoon. Removing the moisture from the cucumbers is crucial because you do not want your Shredded Turkey Salad to get watery. Julienne the cucumber.

Pro Tip: Season cucumbers with a dash of salt, mix well and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. The remaining moisture will escape. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

Julienne the green onions, smash a couple of garlic cloves and chop up some cilantro. Also, slice a couple of sheets of nori seaweed to give it a boost of umami!

How To Make Sesame Sauce

In a small mixing bowl, mix together your Sesame Sauce Mixture. Set aside or refrigerate.

Pro Tip: Make a big batch of the Sesame Sauce Mixture and have it on hand whenever you need to add a quick punch of flavours to your noodles, dumplings or salad. The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Preparing Sesame Hand Shredded Turkey

In a large mixing bowl toss together hand shredded turkey, 2 tablespoon of the sesame sauce mixture, julienne sweet pickles, Thai red chilis, cucumbers, baby red radishes, green onions, minced garlic and cilantro. Mix well.

Divide and serve. Garnish with remaining cilantro, green onions.

Pro Tip 1: Although this dish is a cold appetizer it can be eaten warm as well. 

Pro Tip 2: For extra sesame flavours, toast white sesame seeds and sprinkle on top.

We hope you enjoy making this refreshing low carb quick and easy Shredded Turkey Recipe. It can be made easily in an Instant Pot or roasted in your oven.

For more information and recipe ideas, visit THINK TURKEY^TM to learn more

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