Turkey Congee

One of the great joys of Thanksgiving are the fun leftovers. Turkey sandwiches are great. But, only one Thanksgiving leftover is a must have every year for me - Turkey congee. Congee is basically a rice porridge that is eaten in many Asian countries and it is oh so satisfying. Chicken noodle soup maybe great, but there's something about congee that satisfies the soul. Picture to the right was from wikipedia...I was so hungry and ravenous I didn't stop and take a picture :)

Turkey Congee (called jook in Cantonese)
This porridge is preferably eaten the day after Thanksgiving for lunch, but this can be made weeks after using frozen turkey bones (as was done by me). Perfect sick day meal. It has the flavor of a chicken soup, but it's also filling because it's a rice porridge. You can replace the turkey with roasted chicken as well. If you can't find the egg or youtiao you can use a hard boiled egg and a loaf of crusty bread.

Ingredients
All the turkey bones from an already cooked 22 pound turkey with some meat and skin still on the bone
1/2 green onion - thinly sliced
1 cup white rice
15 cups water
white pepper
Soy sauce
1 clove garlic lightly crushed
1,000 year old egg cut up into bite size pieces (can be found in Asian grocery stores)

-Not really 1,00o years old, but hard boiled egg marinated in tea and salt. Adds a nice rich flavor to the congee

Fried bread sticks or youtiao (can be found in Asian grocery stores)

1) Cut the turkey carcass up into smaller pieces (trying to get the pieces to under 3 inches high) using a cleaver or sharp kitchen scissors. By cutting up the carcass, this will reduce the amount of water needed and speed up the process of extracting "the goodness" from the bones.
2) Add the bones to a large pot. Add garlic, water and white rice and bring to a boil (pot should be covered). No salt is needed, since the turkey was seasoned.
3) Once mixture is boiling, reduce to a simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours - remove cover. Add egg the last 10 minutes of simmering. I usually like my congee medium thick, but some may like it more watery. Make sure to stir everything around, since there will be a lot of rice at the bottom of the pot.
4) Add congee, turkey pieces and skins (should be some from the bone) to a bowl. Top with pinch of green onions, teaspoon of egg, a touch of soy, and pinch of white pepper. When eating, dip the youtiao in the porridge. The crunchy and slightly oily breadstick soaks up the flavorful porridge and is a perfect marriage.