Have Yourself a Nontraditional Thanksgiving
November 25, 2005
I can’t remember my first Thanksgiving dinner. What I do remember is that our dinner table had no gravy boats, no cranberry sauce (Jam for dinner? Don’t even think about it.), no HoneyBaked ham, no mashed potatoes.
Two weeks ago, I shared with you two Thanksgivings, which I spent away from home. If you remember, my absence from home wasn’t a big deal since my family never really celebrated with the big bird and all the trimmings.
I have to admit that there were awkward moments when I was younger when classmates talked about their Thanksgiving plans and dishes. Here I was, the Chinese girl who had Thanksgiving dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Instead of a table lined with runners and centerpieces, ours was lined with newspaper and mismatch chipped rice bowls. I didn’t understand why we were different, or in the mind of an adolescent, “weird.”
We did cook a turkey, and I think my parents did that for my siblings and me so we could experience a western holiday. It’s easy for me to say now that food doesn’t make Thanksgiving, but I’m pretty sure as a kid, I wasn’t that understanding.
My family has had our share of turkey mishaps. One year, my dad left the sack of giblets inside the turkey cavity; once he stuffed glutinous, sticky rice in a turkey and the rice never cooked.
If you’re adventurous and wanting to try something different from the usual bread stuffing, you can use glutinous rice. The secret is (and it isn’t a big one) to cook the rice beforehand and then stuff the bird. As the turkey cooks, the juices from the cavity will infuse the rice. You can also add black mushrooms, Chinese sausages, cilantro, ginger to your rice for more flavor.
But blending Asian flavors into your Thanksgiving meal isn’t just limited to an Asian-style rice stuffing. Steamed chicken with ginger and scallions, Chinese roasted duck or Peking duck are nice alternatives to turkey. (You can save time by purchasing a cooked duck.)
Add ginger, scallions and a splash of coconut milk to butternut squash soup, or serve sweet corn soup with egg and shitake mushrooms. Side dishes can run the gamut –– from turmeric and coconut milk-infused rice to Indian rice with peas and potatoes. Serve wok-seared vegetables flavored with garlic and soy sauce, instead of green beans, try Chinese yard-long beans, or cook a lemongrass curry with sweet potato, carrot and celery. For dessert, try sweet peanut soup, Thai pumpkin custard and use persimmons and pomegranates as accompaniments to cakes or tarts.
Unlimited possibilities await curious cooks who want to add an Asian touch to a Thanksgiving meal. Whether you’re in Vacaville or Vietnam, Turlock or Thailand, San Francisco or Saipan, Thanksgiving is what you make of it. For some it may be about the bird, while for others a bowl of rice is just as nice.
Sticky Rice and Mushroom Stuffing
(This stuffing is good by itself or stuffed. I usually like to stuff the bird when it’s almost finished cooking. Make sure rice is cooked thoroughly if you plan on serving it as a side dish.)
• 2 cups glutinous rice
• 5 cups water
• 4 Chinese sausages
• 1 stalk green scallions
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 – 2 tablespoons fresh julienned ginger
• 12 dried Chinese black mushrooms, soaked overnight and drained
• soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
Wash rice and drain well. Place in saucepan with water, bring to boil, cover and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes until rice has absorbed the water and is tender. Some methods of cooking glutinous rice call for soaking the rice overnight, and steaming the rice without water (but cooked over boiling water). Squeeze water out of mushrooms and cut into thin strips, dice sausages and garlic. Sauté garlic in pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil, then add mushrooms and sausage. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add about a handful of diced scallions to mixture, and about 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and a pinch of black pepper. Add rice to mixture and mix well. Add diced scallions and cilantro. Stuff bird and let bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Wok-Fried Greens
• 2 stalks bok choy
• 2 stalks Napa cabbage
• 1/2 – 1 pound green beans
• 2 heads broccoli, trimmed and cut
• olive oil
• garlic
• soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
Wash and drain vegetables thoroughly. Separate leaves of bok choy and Napa cabbage and cut, keeping the leaves intact. Have bowl of ice water ready. Fill a saucepan or 5-quart pot with water, and bring to boil. Blanch green beans for about 1 minute and remove. Place beans in cold water to shock them and stop cooking, let drain. Cook broccoli for about 2 minutes, remove, place in cold water and drain. Heat a wok, add oil and garlic and sauté boy choy and Napa cabbage. Once leaves begin to wilt, add broccoli and green beans. Stir fry for about 3 minutes, add soy sauce, a pinch of salt and pepper. Continue cooking until bok choy stalks are soft and translucent on edges.
Pumpkin Custard
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 15 oz-can of pure pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 1 cup coconut milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs in large bowl and add sugar and salt, cinnamon and ginger. Stir in pumpkin puree into mixture, gradually add in coconut cream and milk, and stir. If mixture is too thick, add a little more milk but make sure consistency isn’t too thin. Butter a gratin dish or individual ramekins and place in deep pan. Pour custard into dish or ramekins, fill pan with warm water (water mark should be about halfway up the dish or ramekins). Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, filling more water, if needed. Cool for about 2 hours before serving.
Reach the Picky Eater at pickyeater@asianweek.com.
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