If you are looking for new ways of cooking leftover turkey from Turkey Day, I have something exotic that you might want to try out (or not). I cooked mine the Malaysian way and the end result is a pot of steaming hot “Chai Buey” (菜尾).
Literally means leftovers, Chai Buey is a dish that is quite common in Chinese-Malaysian homes, especially after festivities such as Chinese New Year, wedding or birthday banquets. The key ingredient of Chai Buey is usually some sort of meat–roast pig, barbeque pork, duck, or chicken. All the leftovers from the festivities (including but not limited to the meat) are then stewed in a big pot with mustard green (芥菜）, vegetables, and other edibles. The end result is a hearty soup with intense flavor and lots of hidden treasures (think leftover Abalone from that wedding banquet!).
While meat is the centerpiece of this dish, the secret ingredient is Assam Gelugor / Assam Keping (tamarind skins). These tamarind skins enhance the sour flavor that is signature to this dish and make the soup extra tangy and savory.
If you don’t like what you see (I know, this dish is so not photogenic!), head over to Simply Recipes for a list of turkey leftovers recipes.
Chai Buey Recipe
Ingredients:
Leftover meat (roast pig, barbeque pork, duck, or chicken)
6 dried red chilies (soaked with warm water and then cut into pieces)
4 pieces of Assam Gelugor (tamarind skins)
1 cup of tamarind juice
3 teaspoons of taucheo (fermented yellow bean sauce)
5 medium bowls of water
4 stalks of mustard green (cut into pieces)
Salt to taste
In a pot, bring the water to boil. Add the leftover meat and boil for 15 minutes. Add in the dried red chilies, Assam Gelugor, tamarind juice, taucheo (fermented yellow bean sauce), and mustard green and simmer for 45 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve hot with steamed white rice.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Turkey Chai Buay nice or not?
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Hi Jiak - The Turkey Chai Buey was very good!
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wahhhh been so long since i last had this dish yumz, luckily we can find these at chicken rice stalls here haha
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G’day RM. Yummy…all the food that I grew up with. My mum cooks most of these classic dishes from Penang!! Cheers.
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G’day RM. Yummy…all the food that I grew up with. My mum cooks most of these classic dishes from Penang!! Cheers.
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Are tamarind skins & tamarind paste the same?
paati
http://enveetusamayal.blogspot.com
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You are so lucky that you can easily find those ingredients in Irvine. Maybe I’ve not tried hard enough in Bay Area, CA.
Tried some penang food at the Bay Area recently. Maybe you could tell from pix if they’re authentically Penang…
http://teczcape-yum.blogspot.com/2006/11/ya-selamat-datang-terima-kasih.html
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Wow! chai boey a must whenever there are leftovers. I tried using turkey 2 years ago and thot it was quite nice but not the same as the ones using roasted duck and siew yoke (BBQ pork). I think the difference is turkey chai boey is very rich in flavour, but nevertheless good to eat!
PS, so great u had thanksgiving … I never miss but this year house reno, very messy :c
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Babe - yes, you guys are so lucky…can get this Chai Buey easily nowadays. You can also get it from economy rice stalls.
Mef - this blog is dedicated to the foods of my childhood…my mother’s cooking, my grandmother’s, and my aunt’s. Now I have to cook my own since I am so far away from home. :P
Paati - no, they are not the same. Tamarind skins are the ones shown on the picture…tamarind paste are usually just tamarind.
Tigerfish - you can get all these ingredients from 99 Ranch Market. I will check out your site.
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Hi Rasa Malaysia, I usually make this with roasted pig feet and I find it too fatty. I will try it with turkey next time. Thanks for the idea.
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Suanne - I know what you mean. I agree with Audrey, the best meat is Siu Yoke or BBQ pork.
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It’s a Taiwanese dish! XD
Which probably means it originated in the Fujian province. =b
- Chubbypanda
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CP - Eeeerrrr, I guess I will have to change the title to Leftover Turkey, Fujian Style. ;)
I think it’s a Chinese invention, but the Malaysian version is improvised with the use of tamarind skins and dried chilies. Do Taiwanese use them for this dish?
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Hi, I was wondering if the mustard greens in this dish is the salted types sold in packets at the Asian grocers, or the fresh ones?
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I used the fresh mustard greens.
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This is really a delicious dish. My grandma’s version is that she will add in tomatoes and nutmeg. I think I am going to try this recipe next week. Thanks for sharing.
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