In Australia we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, so I was excited to make a roast turkey when I moved here. I’d never roasted a turkey before, but I knew I wanted to create Asian flavors. In Laotian cuisine, we use a lot of lemongrass for aromatics. We also use oyster sauce to marinate our meats. So that is how this turkey recipe came about.
I marinate the turkey over night. This will make sure that the turkey is full of flavor. Stuff it with lemongrass, onion, garlic, green onions. The house has the most amazing aroma when I roast a turkey. You will want it to quickly finish roasting so you can eat it. But unfortunately, you will need to roast it about 15 minutes for every pound. It took me 5 hours to roast 20lb turkey!
The key to keeping the turkey moist is to cover it with foil during roasting. I also baste the turkey with the drippings every hour.
I used to take the turkey out to measure the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh, but now I have the SMARTRO meat thermometer. This leave in thermometer has made it so much easier to know when to take the turkey out. This is also key to keeping it moist. You don’t want to over cook the turkey otherwise it will be very dry. There’s nothing worse than cooking all day and then having the end result be dry.
Try this Lao style turkey and you won’t be disappointed. Also have the Jeow Keeng (spicy ginger sauce) on the side and it will make this turkey out of this world!
- 1 whole turkey
- 2 lemongrass
- 1 whole yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 green onion
- oyster sauce
- salt
- pepper
- 3 T butter
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Remove innards from the turkey cavity
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Wash and pat dry
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Use your hands to separate the skin from the turkey breast.
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Put 4T pieces of softened butter underneath the skin. This will help it get crispy.
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Smear oyster sauce all over the turkey.
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Season the turkey with salt and pepper. Also season the cavity.
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Stuff the cavity with the onion, lemongrass, garlic and green onions.
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Cover with Foil and put it in the fridge over night.
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Remove the turkey from the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
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Preheat the oven to 325F.
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Place the turkey on a roasting rack. Put a little bit of water on the bottom to stop it from smoking from the drippings.
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Cover the turkey with foil and put in the oven. Baste the turkey with the drippings every hour.
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Roast the turkey until it measures 165F in the thickest part of the thigh. A rule of thumb is 15 minutes per pound of turkey.