A brilliant way to use leftovers is to wok them up! I love how it comes together as a dish in its own right. Heat wok and add a little squirt of oil, then add all the leftovers, warm through and add healthy dash of scrirachi, done in 5 minutes!
Left: ground turkey from Rainbow Lettuce wrap from recent cooking class. Top: chayote, jicama, peppers; next is eggplant and last chili beans.
I overdid warming of baby quiche so they were a bit crisp, oops. Side of salad is compulsory at lunch.
Love to hear any weird leftovers you’ve made in your wok!?
leftovers
Thanksgiving Leftovers with Asian Spin
What to do with all the leftovers from Thanksgiving? Give them an Asian spin and wok them! I often do that. It’s fun to repurpose food.
Leftovers like turkey, boiled or roasted brussel sprouts, chestnuts that didn’t make it into the stuffing, even stuffing and calabaza, squash or sweet potatoes are perfect candidates for a wok stir fry. I like a mixture of crunchy with different textures. You can make something delicious with any leftovers by adding a dash of tamari, sherry and squirt of lime juice. Instantly transforms any leftovers into a totally new and delicious dish.
The trick is to do them in batches so they’re not a big mish mash. Same concept as any stir fry. Cook different textured veggies separately. Cook veggies first before your meat because they don’t stick to your wok like meat does.
A wok is the most versatile pan for frying anything (use a stainless steel pan or even a pot if you don’t have a wok, please don’t use non-stick, they’re useless for stir and not supposed to use above medium heat.) So, get all your ingredients lined up so your stir fry takes only minutes from beginning to end.
Happy Thanksgiving! Oh, one year I did duck instead of turkey, it was totally memorable. Another year, I gave turkey an Asian twist and slathered my fav 3 seasonings on turkey thighs and grilled them, slurp.
Love to hear how you repurpose your Thanksgiving leftovers.
Ingredients:
Directions:
- Heat your wok till you see first wisp of smoke, squirt 3 rounds of oil down sides of wok, quickly add 1 bashed garlic and half of shredded ginger. Immediately add cubed calabaza, they cook faster than you think. Turn down heat if they start burning and keep turning them. Taste for doness and plate.
- Heat your wok till you see first wisp of smoke, squirt 3 rounds of oil down sides of wok, quickly add other bashed garlic and rest of shredded ginger. Immediately add brussel sprouts and fry till you see burn marks, add in chestnuts. Add to plate of calabaza.
- Heat your wok till you see first wisp of smoke, squirt 1 round of oil down sides of wok. Immediately add turkey pieces and fry till warm, add back all the veggies, add dash of tamari, splash of sherry and squirt of lime juice and give one last quick fry with the seasonings. Done!
Makoto's Lunch Revamped
