Wild Turkey Wonton Soup

Post by Jen
 

We've received many requests for wild turkey recipes, but up until now, we haven't been able to deliver.  I shot the turkey for this recipe-- my first-- this fall season in western Nebraska. Although it was just a hen, I was still able to bring home meat and memories of a wonderful time. I have to thank the guys at U.S. Warriors Outdoors for making this recipe possible! You should check them out. They're an organization that connects wounded vets to the outdoors by providing hunts, fishing opportunities and other activities. Maybe they can help you or someone you know.

Since the hen that I shot wasn't big enough to make it worth plucking, I simply breasted it out and also removed the legs. If you're wondering if there's much difference between a wild turkey and domestic turkey, then I say-- not really. 

Besides the difference in size and possibly fattiness, I bet that you can cook a wild turkey pretty much the same way that you would cook a bird from the store. So when people asked us for wild turkey recipes in the past, I first pointed them to Hank Shaw's website and then tell them that they don't really have to do anything special to a wild turkey. Its taste and texture is exactly the same as a domestic bird. That's my opinion anyway. For this recipe, I used the breast meat. The legs, I will cook up later this week. I don't have anything interesting to say about this recipe, other than a nifty trick I learned if you don't have a meat grinder-- covered in the steps below. This wonton soup recipe is pretty straightforward. You should be able to find the ingredients at your local Asian market. We hope that you will give this a try!

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients: 
- 3 dried black mushrooms
- boneless breasts from one wild turkey, ground
- 8 raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
- 3 green onions,minced
-  1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice wine, or dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, plus extra for garnish
- 2 teaspoons of corn starch
- 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper, plus extra for garnish
- 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1 package of wonton wrappers, at least 12 ounces
- 2 quarts of low sodium chicken broth
- 6 baby bok choy, halved lenghtwise

 1. Soak mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes. We bought wood ear, but there are different kinds of "black mushrooms." Buy whatever is available. Sometimes it will say "fungus" on the bag instead of "mushrooms"-- same thing. Use more mushrooms as desired. Our wood ears were pretty large.

Once reconstituted, remove any hard stems or roots. 

Then thinly slice and set aside.

2. In a bowl, combine filling ingredients: ground turkey*, chopped shrimp, 2 minced green onions, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, corn starch, kosher salt and white pepper. 

*If you don't own a grinder, see below for a nifty trick. 

3. To fill wontons, place 1 generous teaspoon of filling in the center of a wonton wrapper.

Keep remaining wonton wrappers covered to prevent them from drying out. 

Brush water on the edges of the wrapper, then fold it in half over the filling to form a triangle. Press edges together to seal.

Then dab some water onto a bottom corner of the triangle. 

Then fold the other bottom corner over the wet one to form a pretty little package.

Like so! 

If you're still confused, watch the video below of Martin Yan making wontons. I used to watch him all the time when I was a kid.
 

Do this with the remaining wonton wrappers and filling. You may have extra of one or the other. That's ok. Fry up the extra filling to make meatballs or freeze the remaining wrappers; they will keep.

4. Next, bring the chicken broth to a boil over high heat. Add the mushrooms and bok choy and cook for 2 minutes. Then bring heat down to a simmer. Add wontons and cook for 3 minutes. 

You want the broth to be hot enough to cook the wontons, but not at a rolling boil. This can make your wontons fall apart. 

For those who don't know, baby bok choy looks like this. It's a bit like cabbage. Sometimes, they come in large bags. If you have extras, baby bok choy is tasty sauteed in a bit of oil, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and crushed red pepper.

Ladle wontons and broth into soup bowls. Garnish with a pinch of white pepper, a dash of sesame oil and some chopped green onions. Serve immediately.

Wontons are best cooked right before serving, or else they get mushy if they sit in the broth for too long. Filled wontons will keep in the fridge for up to 8 hours, covered. Or, you can freeze them on a plate or baking sheet then transfer into zip lock bag for storage. Cook them frozen in hot broth for 5 minutes instead of 3. 

They are also great fried. Serve with sweet chili sauce on the side for dipping.  Do not thaw. 

How to Grind Meat in a Food Processor 

For those who don't have a meat grinder, here is a nifty trick with a food processor. It worked great for us!

1. Cut pieces of turkey (or any kind of meat) into small cubes. Lay in a single layer, not touching (at least minimally), on a plate or baking sheet. Freeze partially so that they're firm but not frozen, about 20 minutes. This will help the food processor cut the meat.

2. Fill food processor halfway with frozen meat, then pulse until ground, like in the photo. Repeat with the remaining cubes. 

Hope this helps!