Spicy Turkey Stir-Fry With Crisp Garlic and Ginger
This quick-cooking stir-fry is packed with umami from fish sauce and soy sauce, and heat from both red-pepper flakes and fresh chile. Pungent and herbal, it’s a terrific weeknight dish that’s fast but never bland. The key here is to let the turkey get deeply brown, so don’t move it around in the pan too much. Serve it over rice for a substantial meal, or a bed of crisp lettuce if you want something lighter.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 2tablespoons neutral oil, such as safflower or grapeseed
- 4garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1(2-inch) knob ginger, cut into matchsticks
- Fine sea salt
- 2tablespoons coconut oil or more neutral oil
- 3scallions, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced
- ¼teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
- 1pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat (or use ground pork)
- 2tablespoons lime juice, plus more to taste
- 1tablespoon fish sauce
- ½teaspoon soy sauce, plus more to taste
- ½teaspoon sugar or honey (optional)
- Cooked sticky or white rice, for serving
- ⅔cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, for serving
- ⅓cup torn basil leaves (or use more cilantro), for serving
- 1fresh bird’s-eye or serrano chile, thinly sliced, for serving
Instructions
Step 1
In a cold 12-inch skillet, combine oil, garlic and ginger. Place over medium heat until sizzling, then continue to cook, stirring frequently, until garlic and ginger are golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle lightly with salt.Step 2
Add coconut oil to pan, then stir in scallion whites and cook until starting to brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in red-pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute.Step 3
Stir in turkey, raise heat to medium-high, and cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until golden and crisp, about 7 minutes. Don’t stir the meat too much, so it can turn deep brown.Step 4
Remove pan from heat and stir in lime juice, fish sauce and soy sauce. Taste and add more lime juice, red-pepper flakes, soy sauce and sugar or honey if you like.Step 5
Gently mix about two-thirds of the fried garlic and ginger into the turkey. Serve turkey over rice, topped with cilantro, basil, scallion greens and fresh chile, and garnished with remaining fried ginger and garlic.