Korean Braised Wild Turkey Thighs
Rachel and I talk about patterns a lot. Patterns in regards to the animals we chase, but also our own. It’s always interesting examining our own habits and routines, especially with how they coincide with the season.
This time of year, the pattern is pretty predictable. I’ll be sleep deprived, dehydrated, and my back will start feeling weird from turkey hunting. There will be a bird on my mind, usually the last one we need to tag out, and that bird will take his fair share of my time. It’s typical “last week of the season” vibes. I’ve had a diet of black coffee and granola bars for about two weeks. The momentum from chasing gobbles is all that keeps me on my feet. I feel pretty rough.
Around this time of the year, Rachel and I also get on a Korean food kick. It’s a pattern that has emerged over the past few seasons: large spreads of banchan, grilled meats, soups, stews, rice and a pile of greens. We usually start with a few side dishes, then add a few more the next day, and before you know it, there's a never-ending rotating menu of sides to go with the protein of the day. It’s awesome. Rachel actually introduced me to Korean food- I had very little exposure to it until we started cooking together. Now it seems that our fridge is riddled with small deli containers of side dishes for the entire month of May.
There seems to be two major reasons this works out so well. All these small dishes take a little time to put together, but they’re great (and sometimes better) as leftovers. This makes for quick and easy dinners after long days in the field. Also, I believe we’re both starved for veggies this time of the year- I’m not sure if I ever crave greens as much as I do during turkey season. Every spring, we try out a few new sides and main dishes to add to our growing repertoire.
This braised turkey thigh recipe is a new one for us. It’s extremely simple to put together, and it pairs beautifully with everything else on the table. The turkey is lean, with just a hit of fat from the skin, heavy on the pepper and garlic, extremely savory yet light. And like most braises, it gets better overnight.
All you have to do for this dish is mix the marinade together, add in the chunked up turkey thighs, add some water and braise it. These legs came off a mature bird. It took ~4 hours for them to get tender. Jakes will take a little less time, thighs from a domestic bird will be done in under an hour and half.
Korean Braised Wild Turkey Thighs Recipe
Ingredients:
2 wild turkey thighs
Marinade:
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup garlic, minced
¼ cup gochuchang
¼ korean chili pepper, ground
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup onions diced
Green onions to garnish
Method:
Debone and chunk up the thighs into ~1 inch cubes. Mix the marinade ingredients, add the turkey meat and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.
Add the marinated turkey to a heavy bottomed pan with a lid, add the onions, stir and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Once simmering, cover with lid and reduce heat to a steady slow simmer. Cook for about 4 hours until the meat is fork tender.
Top with green onions and serve with your favorite sides.
