Don't tell them it's nearly Christmas in Phana

Once again several strands of my life have coincided seemingly with the promise of good things to come. The last few years Pensri and I have hosted a Christmas lunch for the two young volunteers in Phana. Add and his wife Nit come along too (and sometimes bring along some wine and sticky rice!) and last year their elder daughter and a friend came too. I had recently read this post on Raising Turkeys in Thailand which I found on Women Learning Thai ... so my mind was definitely on turkey.

We have tried the frozen turkey you can get at Big C in Ubon, but we only have a tiny electric oven and anyway frozen turkey is not ideal. Last year we had roast pork and I think that was pretty succesful. We had more or less decided against the turkey and in favour of pork when I started a diet (you can see that HERE) and pork is on the forbidden list.

Then on an early-morning bike ride along a road I often cycle or drive along, I came across these on the other side of a fence:

 

They are strange creatures, but magnificent in a very distinctive sort of way. This fella was very proud of himself and srtutted his stuff all around the enclosure:

 

 

We spent some time chatting to the turkey-farmer and his wife and they were happy for me to take lots of photos. I particularly liked poking my camera inside this little maternity unit, although mum was not convinced that my intentions towards her brood were entirely innocent:

 

 

The farmer also showed me a broody turkey hen which had gone off into the vacant lot next door to "free-range" as he put it. However, she had gone to great pains to make herself as invisible as possible and this next photo is the best I could do without disturbing her:

 

 

 

And finally I was encouraged to take this picture of my own hand, which explains why the focus or the shake impairs the quality of the picture:

 

And so, thanks to reading a post on Women Leaning Thai, my diet, and my daily bicycle ride, Christmas lunch is looking good. Except for the gallant turkey we have arranged to collect on Christmas Eve, of course.

 

 

Comments

[Mike]

Turkey's in Thailand.....well I never. My biggest problem would be we don't have an oven. How do you cook the beast?

I'm salivating at the though since I too am off the pork!

[Lawrence]

Mike, Pensri plans to cook it as she did once in Exeter when our kitchen was out of commission one Christmas.

Steam the turkey in a BIG steamer on a gas ring or a charcoal thing. Stand the bird in a tray so that you catch the juices for use as gravy. Pensri inserted a quartered large onion, a quartered, peeled orange and about 4 sticks of lemon grass into said bird before cooking. She made and served stuffing separately.

The turkey was very tender but not dry as when roasted.

Finally she will cut into half or maybe quarters and grill over charcoal just to make the skin turn brown and crisp up a bit. We didn't do this in Exeter, in fact, but will here in Phana. Or she may brown some pieces such as legs in our little electric oven, though that will also be roasting spuds etc.

Salivate away!

[Mike]

Lawrence sounds great. A good way to enjoy a traditional lunch.

[Martyn]

Lawrence I once went on search of turkeys up in the mountains of Loei. To cut the story short a hotel trip advertising a turkey farm turned out to be a let down when we arrived to find out the farm had been closed down months before.

Do people eat turkey eggs? This question came up at work last week but no one knew the answer.

Enjoy your Christmas lunch and I hope the day runs smooth.

[Malcolm]

Lawrence , Wow ,I had given up on ever even hearing about a turkey here in the LOS , your story brought a smile to my face and triggered a memory that I had not thought of for many years , the time my Bro. and Sister and me went with Dad to the neighbors farm to pick out the holiday turkey and when my sister saw them she was so taken with them that we could not have turkey again at home till she married off.Till this day on her mini farm where she lives in Texas she has turkeys running around the yard , they are just like having a dog she says , to each his own , ha ha , great photos too and loved the story. Malcolm

[Lawrence]

Martyn, I hope you once posted that story about the closed turkey farm in Loei, because if not I'm suffering from deja vu.

You might like the hotel in Ubon which has a big notice outside advertising its "Turkey Bath and Massage".

Don't know about the eggs, but I guess they are sometimes eaten, or why would he have had one for me to hold. But I'd think breeding them would be more profitable.

[Lawrence]

Malcolm, in your turn you brought a smile to my face with your story about your sister. I hope you didn't have to wait too long till she was married off. And I hope she married a turkey lover.