This easy Peking-style turkey is classy and a showstopper! If you love Peking sauce, give this Peking-style roast turkey a try! It’s tender, flavorful, and cooked to perfection. A Thanksgiving favorite with easy turkey recipe!
Peking Style Turkey. Thanksgiving. Oven-roasted turkey. But, Cantonese style and easy turkey recipe.
I can’t believe it’s November already and here I am with my first ever oven-roasted turkey recipe. I know! If you’ve been to China Town, you must be familiar with Peking duck. It is a famous duck dish from Beijing that had its beginnings in the Yuan Dynasty (1271 to 1368), a time when the Mongol Emperors ruled China; however, it wasn’t introduced to the public until 1864.
What is Peking style?
Peking sauce is used in Chinese cooking and it has a sweet flavor that is often compared to barbecue sauce.
So, if you’re browsing for a whole roasted turkey recipe, give this Peking-style turkey recipe a try. Super easy and delicious.
The ingredients
Similar to the char siu Wellington recipe, here’s what you need to make this easy turkey recipe:
- Turkey. I use a 13-pound turkey in this recipe. If you enjoy online shopping, then place your turkey order via ButcherBox.
- Honey to give a caramelized color of the outer skin
- Soy sauce, dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is thicker, darker, and has about 15% more sodium than regular/light soy sauce
- Rice wine vinegar. This can also be replaced with white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 5-spice powder to add more aromatic flavor
- Butter for the glaze
- Garlic, ginger, lemongrass
- Water
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How to make Peking style roast turkey
It takes hours to roast a turkey; however, the steps are easy to follow.
- Bring water to a boil and add garlic, ginger, lemongrass, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low and lower the turkey into the pot. Cover for 30 minutes
- Make the glaze. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in rice wine vinegar, five-spice powder, butter, soy sauce, and honey
- Roast the turkey. Preheat the oven to 400F. In a large roasting pan, fit a roasting rack and place the turkey on top. Brush all over with the glaze, lower oven to 350F and roast the turkey, basting every 20 minutes for about 2 hourss, or until a thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 165F. If the turkey browning too quickly, tent it with a piece of foil. Let it rest for 30 minutes before carving
Kitchen notes
If you are looking for an alternative to cooking a whole turkey for a family of 4 or 6, using pre-cut turkey pieces is the perfect option.
Kitchen tools
Cooking for two (or three now) doesn’t require lots of kitchen tools at our home; hence, I was not prepared to cook this turkey and this is what happened.
Not the best photo ever, but I need to make it happen.
So, you will need:
- One large pot. Big enough to hold your turkey
- Roasting pan or a sheet pan covered with foil and cooling rack
Best way to enjoy Peking style roast turkey
With steamed buns or bao buns which you can get in the Asian markets, such as 99 Ranch. Then add the turkey, sliced cucumber, sliced green onions, and hoisin sauce. Another way is to use roti or Indian flatbread (chapati) or green onion pancake.
Turkey and Thanksgiving go together and this tradition is simply scrumptious! Need more easy turkey recipes? Check out these 14+ turkey recipes you will enjoy!
Easy Peking-style Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 13-pound turkey
- Hoisin sauce
- Steamed buns or roti
Marinade
- 1 4-inch ginger
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup dark soy sauce
- 8 cups water
Glaze
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons 5-spice powder
- ¼ cups soy sauce
- ¼ cups honey
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil and add garlic, ginger, lemongrass, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low and lower the turkey into the pot. Cover for 30 minutes
Glaze
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in rice wine vinegar, five-spice powder, butter, saoy sauce, and honey
Oven-roast Turkey
- Preheat the oven to 400F. In a large roasting pan, fit a roasting rack and place the turkey on top. Brush all over with the glaze, lower oven to 350F and roast the turkey, basting every 20 minutes for about 2 hourss, or until a thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 165F. If the turkey browning too quickly, tent it with a pieve of foil. Let it rest for 30 minutes before carving
Nancy says
This peiking style Turkey looks amazing! I love the fusion twist on a lean meat!
Julie says
Someone is seriously CLEVER! Peking Turkey instead of Peking Duck, wildly creativity my blogger friend!
Freya says
This is a really interesting thanksgiving alternative, I love all the flavours you’ve packed the Turkey with, and I bet leftovers taste great too!
Amy says
Love the idea of mixing up the turkey this Thanksgiving with the Peking marinade! What a great idea! My family love peking duck so this would definitely be a hit.
Mihaela | https://theworldisanoyster.com/ says
I have never roasted a whole turkey, let alone tried the Chinese style. Perhaps, it is time:)
Patti@PattyCakesPantry says
This is a delicious sounding alternative to a traditional roasted turkey. Amazing! Thanks for sharing.
laura says
I’ve NEVER had Peking duck OR turkey but now I want to make the turkey!! It sounds delish!!
Gwynn says
Looking forward to making this delicious recipe for my family!
Cathleen says
Yum this sounds so perfect for the holidays!! I am definitely going to give this a go soon, bookmarked to make later. Thanks so much for the recipe 🙂