Thanksgiving Leftovers: NOT "Rascal-do," It's "Arroz Caldo"

The turkey we bought this Thanksgiving was much too large. It was over 26 pounds--four times the weight of my dog. Maybe this only happens when the person shopping for the turkey is an over-enthused and un-fed man. Or maybe a 26-pounder was the smallest bird available at Costco. Whatever the reason, the same question remained on Friday morning: What does a girl do with the leftovers?

My dad taught me never to waste food. So this year, like all years, I carefully removed every shred of meat. I disassembled Mr. Turkey bone by bone. Then I made two important decisions: 1) No turkey sandwiches. And 2) No American food.

My U.S.-raised Filipino boyfriend had once told me about a dish that his mom used to make called "Rascal-do." He said it was similar to a Chinese congee, or rice soup. So I ventured online looking for the perfect Rascal-do recipe that I could make with my leftover turkey. I didn't find one. In fact I didn't find any--and I was soon convinced that such a dish did not exist.

But fifteen more minutes of Googling yielded results: the dish I was looking for is actually called "Arroz Caldo," which literally translated, means "hot rice." The common ingredients in all of the recipes I found were short-grain rice, chicken, ginger and garlic. I, of course, had to use up that turkey. And my rebellious Chinese soul felt compelled to add a couple of ingredients that reminded me of the congee I ate as a kid. The resulting recipe follows.

Ingredients (I don't measure, so these are all approximate):

• turkey bones (just the big ones from a whole turkey)
• water, just enough to give the bones a nice bath (as my mom would say)
  
• 2 cups shredded turkey meat
  
• 1-1/2 cups short-grain white rice, rinsed
  
• 1 knob fresh young ginger, peeled and quartered
  
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bunch of scallions, chopped
• a small handful of cilantro, coarsely chopped
  
• juice from 1 lemon
  
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• salt and pepper
  

Here's what I did with those ingredients: First I made a simple turkey stock by bringing the bone-bath to a boil in a large stock pot, then turning the heat down to medium and letting it simmer for two hours. After that, I removed the fat and bones from the stock and added the uncooked rice, chunks of ginger and minced garlic. I let the mixture simmer, stirring it frequently (the rice gets stuck to the bottom of the pot if you don't) until it reached a porridge-consistency, about 45 minutes. Then I removed the ginger chunks--they were just in there for flavor--and the rest of the ingredients went into the pot with a quick stir.

My Thanksgiving turkey arroz caldo was a success. I especially liked the fragrant ginger, the bright citrus flavor of the lemon and the richness of the homemade turkey stock. It was gone before I even had a chance to take a photo of it. So maybe next year, you'll make your own version of this hearty peasant dish. And if you do, you'll have to send me your photos and tell me all about it.