How to Cook Lemongrass Turkey Recipe & Video - Seonkyoung Longest (2024)

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How to Cook Lemongrass Turkey Recipe for the Holidays!

Happy Holidays Season!!
Isn’t this time of year is your favorite? It is mine! I always look forward to November and December for the festive atmosphere, smiles on people’s faces, shopping for holiday decorations, and planning meals for gatherings… Ah, I just LOVE this time of year so so much!

I’m not a massive fan of Halloween (Sorry, my gothic followers!!), but definitely for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New-years!

I really wanted to make some festive turkey recipes again (I made Korean Glazed Turkey Recipe a while ago) for more new and unique ideas for your holiday meal. How to cook the turkey? Actually, easier than you think!

Holiday meals are the ultimate comfort food for my husband, Jacob. I learned about Holidays culture from my in-laws, and my mother-in-law taught me so much about preparing holiday foods. For example, start turkey broth with turkey neck bone as the first step before anything for the most flavorful gravy. Prepare dessert a day before, etc. Such a lovely time and memories.

Although I love holiday meals, it doesn’t give me the “comfort” feeling from my home, Korea. So every year, I try to come up with some Asian flavored holiday recipe ideas. 🧐

This year, I made this Lemongrass Turkey recipe that is juicy, flavorful, and fantastic with other holiday side dishes. It’s “comfort food” for Jacob & me. This is how you create your own cultures and traditions for your own little family that you created.

The BEST part of this recipe is, hands down, the GRAVY!!! I adopted my mother-in-law’s tips and put my flavors.. it ended up the best gravy I’ve ever had!
Lemongrass turkey is also fantastic with my Fried Rice Stuffing!

Are you ready to be festive and learn how to cook lemongrass turkey at home? Let’s get started!

The first thing is first. This is how to cook turkey recipe, so let’s deal with the turkey first!

We are a small family (it’s only me and my husband, Jacob. Sometimes a couple of family members or a small group of friends will visit us.), so I always cook small young turkey about 10 to 12 lb max. You could tell me that I can make turkey breast, but no, no. It must be the whole turkey for me because turkey breast is not done for me – especially for the holiday meal.

Place a young turkey on a working surface. Cut along both sides of the backbone from one end of the turkey to the other with a pair of strong kitchen scissors. You probably have to pop the bones around the thigh areas to go through with scissors.

Remove backbone and tail, keep it for broth along with neck bone. Place turkey cut side down and flat out legs, left and right. Now, with both of your hands, push down on top of the breastbone with your weight until you hear cracks. Now your turkey should lay flat.

I always butterfly the turkey to reduce the cooking time, and it always turns out so juicy, cooked & browns up evenly! I’ll never go back to the traditional whole turkey roasting technique. Plus, I get the backbones to add more flavor to my broth!

In a large pot, add the turkey neck bone, backbone, and tail along with 1 celery stalk, 1 crushed lemongrass, 5 crushed cloves garlic, 1 small shallot (cut into half), 2 oz ginger slices, 1 bay leaf, and 8 cups of cold water. You could use up to 12 cups of water, but I didn’t have any other plan of using the turkey broth, and my pot was too small. So if you want to have extra broth for porridge or noodle soup later, definitely use 12 cups of cold water.

Bring it to a boil over high heat, skim the sc*ms with a skimmer as needed. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 hours. (or even longer, if you have more time.) Make sure to start broth first before anything for the most flavorful gravy.

Chop 2 large lemongrasses super fine with your sharp knife. (Don’t use the top green part, though)

I prefer to chop Lemongrass with my knife instead of a food processor because if you use a food processor, the fiber won’t cut as well as you do with your knife. The fiver, however, after cooking, it’s not chewable. If you have a chopper, slice Lemongrass thinly first, then use the chopper to have the result as you see above.

You can use the rest of the ingredients in the food processor, but I just decided to chop with my hands.

Combine all the chopped ingredients for the marinade in a mixing bowl.
Add 4 tsp salt, 2 tsp black pepper, 4 tsp palm sugar or brown sugar, 3 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp cooking oil (avocado, vegetable, or canola oil), 1 stick of temperature butter, and zest from 1 lime.

Rub the butterflied turkey with mixture all over. Make sure to put 2/3 of the marinade under the turkey skin.

Place the turkey on a roasting pan or a large baking pan that is lined with a rack. Tuck the wing tips under the turkey breast. You can cover it and marinate the turkey overnight in a refrigerator or roast it right away.

When you’re ready, preheat the oven to 450°F.

Roast turkey in a preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes.
Cover turkey with aluminum foil if needed after 30 minutes and rotate 180 degrees.

To check the doneness of turkey, insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, and it should reach 150°F or into the thickest part of thigh registers 165°F. Remove from oven and let it rest, loosely covered with foil for 20 minutes.

Carve the turkey and serve with the gravy, fried rice stuffing, sweet & spicy cranberry sauce, and more!

Enjoy & Happy Holidays!