Peking Thigh

My mother-in-law, Joan, made Peking duck while my mom was visiting. She had done it years ago and wanted to try again. It was delicious. We ate it too quickly for me to have taken a picture.

Then she got an idea to try it with turkey thigh. The dark meat of the turkey thigh was surprisingly similar in taste and texture to duck except that it was much leaner.

Peking duck traditionalists will miss the fowl lipids but the skin held all the goodness from the sauce. Also, the meat to skin ratio skewed in the opposite direction (if you've ever eaten duck, you know what I mean) so maybe this ends up being healthier.

Anyway, I don't know how to make this, I just wanted to tempt your tummies. She made the Mandarin pancakes too. Very handy lady. I stir fried the bok choy. Hey, I had to do something.

I do know that making the duck involved boiling it in a sweet, gingery sauce, then hanging it dry and drip, then roasting it. Apparently, turkey thighs are less messy and intense since Joan could dry it on a rack in the refrigerator instead of hanging it from the curtain rod in the shower.

The only problem was that the thigh is so much thicker than any part of a duck that the meat closest to the bone just tasted like moist turkey.

I'm sure she'll try it again. I'll let you know how it turns out.