Thai turkey mince with rice

 

Ingredients 
1 Tbsp peanut oil
750g turkey mince
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
!/2 red onion chopped, optional

1/3 cup sweet chilli sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 red onion, halved, finely sliced
1 cup fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
A handful of iceberg lettuce leaves, shredded
Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
Lime wedges, to serve

Serves 4

Method
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add mince, garlic and chilli. Cook, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 min or until mince is browned and cooked through. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add sweet chilli sauce, lime juice, onion, coriander and lettuce. Toss to combine.
Serve with rice and lime wedges.

Chook’s note: It’s the fresh ingredients and herbs added at the end that give this dish a wonderful zing. You could also add a splash of fish sauce but it’s not necessary.
You can prep the meat part ahead and simply warm at the last minute.
I use whatever rice I have pre-cooked in the freezer.

Japanese Salmon Rice

A quick an easy dish which can be thrown together from pantry items. I always modify to taste and according to what I have in the pantry-freezer 

Ingredients
1 ½ cups Japanese rice
½ cup sake (optional)
1 3/4 cup salmon stock or dashi (or chicken stock)
2 green onions, sliced thin
150gm cooked salmon meat, flaked
2 Tbsp furikake seasoning (see below)
1 to 2 Tbsp sesame oil

Serves 4

Method
Rinse the rice well before cooking. Put the rice, sake and stock in a pot, cover and turn on high until it boils. Drop the heat to medium-low and cook until the rice is mostly done, about 10 mins. When it's done, quickly uncover the pot and put in the green onions and salmon. Cover the pot and wait 5 minutes.

When you are ready to serve, fluff the rice with the sesame oil and furikake seasoning.

Chook's notes: If you don't have furikake seasoning, simply toast 2 Tbsp of sesame seeds and use that. (For recipe see https://thepingingchook.blogspot.com/2025/07/citrus-furikake.html)
I substitute Chinese cooking wine for sake and use chicken stock (because it is always handy).
I rarely have Japanese rice so I simple use medium grain white.  You can use precooked rice from the freezer, warm it and then add the green onions and a little stock before adding the salmon
I usually make this with smoked salmon cooking pieces or hot smoked salmon fillets.

Optional serving suggestions: add a touch of cream or butter and lemon juice to the rice, serve with steamed snow peas and scatter with chopped dill.

Turkey pilaf

 

[image from the internet]

Ingredients 
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
500g turkey mince
1-2 cup cooked rice
1 lemon, rind finely grated, juiced
1 cup each of fresh mint and coriander leaves, firmly packed

Serves 4

Method

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic, stirring, for 2 mins or until soft. Add the spices and chilli. Cook, stirring, for 1 min or until aromatic. Increase heat add the turkey. Cook, breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon, for 6 min/until browned and cooked through.

Heat the rice and add the lemon juice and zest.  Season and add to the turkey mixture. 

Add the chopped the mint and coriander and stir to combine. Sprinkle with toasted chopped pistachios (optional) and drizzle with the extra oil or dob with butter – or both!

Chook’s note: the original recipe used couscous but I prefer rice. If you want to use couscous, place the couscous, lemon rind, juice and water in a heatproof bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Stand for 5 min to absorb. Fluff with a fork. Season. You can add cranberries if you wish but this is delicious as is.