Turkey Gizzards Two Ways

A recipe for turkey gizzard rillettes, and one for gizzards in a Chinese red braise.

By
Chichi Wang
Chichi Wang: Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Chichi Wang

Chichi Wang wrote a variety of columns for Serious Eats including The Butcher's Cuts, in addition to other stories. Born in Shanghai and raised in New Mexico, Chichi took her degree in philosophy but decided that writing about food would be more fun than writing about Plato.

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Updated September 29, 2023
Turkey gizzards in a Dutch oven with chopped vegetables.

Serious Eats / Chichi Wang

Why It Works

  • Turkey gizzards are well suited for making rillettes, long-simmered meat which is shredded and pounded into a spreadable paste.
  • The larger size of turkey gizzards makes it much easier to slice them after they've been cooked in a Chinese-style red braise.

Compared to chicken, turkey gizzards are gargantuan. One turkey gizzard fits snugly in the palm of my hand. Around Thanksgiving, most stray gizzards are marshaled into the gravy. Being an offal lover, I'd rather eat the components of giblet gravy than the gravy itself.

Stock, Rillettes, and Beyond

A glass jar filled with rillettes made from turkey gizzards

Serious Eats / Chichi Wang

Rillettes, that classic French preparation in which long-simmered meat is shredded and pounded into a spreadable paste, takes surprisingly well to turkey gizzards. Generally, pork, rabbit, or duck is used for this type of potted meat, but turkey gizzards work just as well.

The master recipe for rillettes is always the same: stew the meat in fat or water; pound the meat with stock and fat, and transfer the mixture to a ramekin or jar, sealing with a thin layer of fat. Rillettes are ideal to serve as an appetizer; paired with a baguette and a simple green salad, these pots also make for a rich yet simple meal.

A Dutch oven filled with turkey gizzards and chopped vegetables for stock

Serious Eats / Chichi Wang

Chinese Red Braise

Turkey gizzards in a pot with water, soy sauce, and other ingredients for a Chinese red braise.

Serious Eats / Chichi Wang

Nothing smells more like home to me than a red-braised dish. The Shanghainese will simmer just about anything in a combination of water, soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon, and rock sugar. My mother's red-braised pork is a staple around her house; in mine, it's red-braised gizzards. Sliced thinly on a bias, a platter of red braised gizzards is a wonderful cold dish to serve as a starter in a Chinese meal. In the past I've always cooked this dish with chicken gizzards, but in recent months I've transitioned to turkey. Their larger size makes cutting paper-thin slices so much easier. I like to have a tub of them on hand for late-night snacking.

November 2009

Recipe Details

Turkey Gizzards Two Ways

Prep 5 mins
Cook 5 hrs 20 mins
Chilling Time 60 mins
Total 6 hrs 25 mins
Makes 4 crocks
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 1.5 to 2 pounds turkey gizzards
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme, or herbs of your choice such as oregano, majoram, etc.
  • 6 or so black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • 1 1/2 quarts chicken stock or water
  • 1/4 cup fat
  • Red Braised Turkey Gizzards
  • 1 pound turkey gizzards
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons Shao Xing rice wine, or sake
  • 3 lumps rock sugar, or 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1-inch piece of ginger, scrubbed clean
  • 2 star anise
  • A 2-inch piece of cinnamon
  • A few chili peppers, optional

Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and place the gizzards in the boiling water. Let the gizzards cook for one minute to get rid of any impurities. Drain the gizzards and rinse under cold water.

  2. Place the gizzards in a medium-sized pot and cover with water. Add the remaining ingredients: the water or stock, the aromatics and herbs, and peppercorns.

  3. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 3 hours or until the gizzards are fork-tender.

  4. Remove the gizzards from the stock and let cool to slightly above room temperature. Strain the stock and set aside. The majority of the stock can be used in a gravy; reserve some of the liquid for use in the rillettes.

  5. Place the gizzards in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed, slowly adding enough of the reserved stock, until the meat shreds thoroughly and the mixture takes on a moist and spreadable texture, about 1 to 3 minutes. Taste and more add salt and pepper. Since the rillettes will be served at room temperature, the paste should be slightly saltier than what you would normally expect from a warm preparation.

  6. Spoon the mixture into individual ramekins or crocks. Refrigerate until chilled, then pour about 1/8 inch of rendered fat on top to seal the ramekins. If you are running low on fat, use a bit of olive oil to bulk up the mixture. Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.

  7. Remove the rillettes from the refrigerator 2 hours before serving; they are best at room temperature. Serve with bread or toast.

  8. Red Braised Turkey Gizzards: (makes enough for an appetizer that serves 6 or more). Place the gizzards in a medium-sized pot and cover with water. Add the remaining ingredients.

  9. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a steady simmer and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the gizzards are fork-tender. Towards the end of the cooking time, the liquid will have reduced into a syrupy sauce. Take care that the sauce doesn't burn.

  10. Let the gizzards cool to room temperature. Before serving, slice them thinly on a bias. Serve as a snack or appetizer, accompanied by noodles or rice. Leftover gizzards may be refrigerated, whole, for up to a week. Do not slice until you are ready to serve, as the flavor degrades of a thin-sliced gizzards degrades more quickly.

Make-Ahead and Storage

For the rillettes: remove from the refrigerator 2 hours before serving; they are best at room temperature.

For the red-braised gizzards: leftover gizzards may be refrigerated, whole, for up to a week. Do not slice until you are ready to serve, as the flavor degrades of a thin-sliced gizzards degrades more quickly.

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