Roasted Turkey with Asian Flavorings

This Thanksgiving I decided to prepare the turkey using a variety of Asian seasonings and flavorings. Here is the recipe that I created for my blog. I hope that you and your family will enjoy the resulting meal.

 Brine ingredients:

1 gallon apple cider
1/2 gallon water
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
2 lemongrass strands, cut up
6 garlic cloves, sliced

10 cloves

5 star anise

1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp whole black pepper

1 piece of fresh ginger, sliced

2 stalks of celery, cut up

2 carrots, cut up

1 piece of daikon, cut up

1 cup salt

1 cup brown sugar or white sugar

Place all the brine ingredients in a large pot and bring mixture to a boil.  Boil the brine for 15 minutes over low heat. Let cool completely before adding the turkey. Soak turkey in this brine 24 hours.

Ingredients:

One 10 to 12 lbs turkey

1 ½ tbs salt

1 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/3 cup coconut oil

30 garlic cloves, peeled

5 shallots, peeled

1 white onion, cut into wedges

One 2 inch length fresh ginger, sliced

2 lemongrass stalks, cut up and bruised

Glaze ingredients:

1 tbs coconut oil

1 tbs honey

Directions:

Remove turkey from brine solution. Wash turkey well under cold water and pat dry.

Combine salt, sugar, and black pepper in a bowl. Mix well. Season the turkey inside and out with this seasoning.

Combine coconut oil with salt, sugar, pepper, and paprika. Mix well. Season inside turkey well with the coconut-salt mixture and place garlic, shallots, lemongrass, ginger, and white onions inside turkey.  Continue to use the rest of the coconut oil by placing it under and all over skin of turkey.

Place turkey wings side down in a baking pan with rack. Pour 1 cup of water in the pan.

Bake turkey in a preheated oven set to 350°. Bake for 30 minutes. Then turn oven temperature down to 325° and bake for another 2 hours.

 Combine the glaze ingredients and baste the turkey every 15 minutes during the last hour. Follow the instructions of how to cook your specific turkey because each oven’s temperature varies.