Dish 5: Tavuk Göğsü

SUMMARY

Tavuk göğsü, otherwise known as chicken pudding, is a Turkish milk pudding that is made with shredded chicken breast. Tavuk göğsü is served as a dessert, since it is pudding. The history of this dish is long and traditional, as it used to be a delicacy that was served to the sultans in the Topkapı Palace during the Ottoman Empire, and is still a prevalent and well-known dish in Turkey today. Because of its rich history, this dish is very representative of traditional Turkish cuisine and culture.

PHOTOS

Here is the pudding after it had been refrigerated overnight, and here is the final product I served with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

This is the example picture of the pudding I used to compare my dish to, coming with the recipe I used for this project.

This is the pudding straight after coming out of the pot, when it was still hot. I immediately put it in the refrigerator to chill until solidified.

RECIPE

Ingredients: 1/2 chicken breast, 4 1/4 cups (1 liter) whole milk, 1/3 cup cornstarch, 1/3 cup white rice flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 cups water

Instructions:

First, place the chicken in a saucepan with enough water to cover it
Bring it to a boil and cook the chicken well
Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and put it in a bowl. Pull the meat apart with your fingers into fine strips
Continue to shred the chicken as finely as you can. You can use the tines of a fork to help. This should be easy if the chicken is cooked well
Put the shredded chicken into a fine wire strainer and run it under cold water for several minutes. Press the chicken shreds against the strainer while you rinse it using your hand or a wooden spoon
Next, prepare a bowl of cold water. Place the strainer over it and soak the shredded chicken for about 20 minutes
Drain it in the strainer and repeat this process four or five times
For the sixth time, place the strainer in the bowl of cold water and put the whole thing in the refrigerator and leave it overnight
The next morning, drain it, rinse it a few more times under running cold water, then drain the shredded chicken completely, squeezing out the extra water and setting it aside
Put the milk in a large saucepan and boil it for several minutes
Add the shredded chicken to the milk and blend it with a hand blender two or three times until very smooth

Return the pan to the heat and continue to cook it for about 20 minutes more, stirring it constantly
In a separate bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, rice flour, and about two cups of water until smooth. Remove the milk from the heat
Using your whisk, drizzle the starch in a very fine stream into the milk as you whisk it
Once all the starch is whisked in, return the pan again to the heat and bring it to scalding temperature while stirring constantly. Cook it in this manner for about five minutes more until it begins to thicken
Stir in the sugar and vanilla and cook it 15 minutes more. The pudding should become so thick that you can no longer stir it. Use the back of your wooden spoon to "slap" the surface to keep it moving as it cooks
Wet the bottom and sides of a shallow glass tray. A rectangular oven casserole pan works well.
Pour the pudding into the wet tray and let it cool down to room temperature. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about six hours
Sprinkle some cinnamon on each portion before serving

REFLECTION

Overall, I really enjoyed making this dish. It was such an interesting learning experience, to be able to make and eat not only a dessert, but a pudding made of chicken. This dish is definitely the one that stood out to me the most during my research, because I would never have considered to include chicken in a dessert like Turkish people did, whereas I expected chicken to be in stew or salads like the other dishes were. It looked a lot more complicated in the recipe than it actually was, which was relieving to me. The texture of this pudding was unexpected but delicious, especially with the addition of cinnamon adding a pop of flavor to the already intriguing dessert. I am so glad I was able to learn about this dish and how it connects to Turkish history as well as getting to eat a very good dish, and I would definitely make it again for a sweet dessert.