Chinese Five Spice Ground Turkey Zucchini Noodles Recipe (2024)
by Jeanette31 Comments
Chinese Five Spice Ground Turkey Zucchini Noodlesare a great low carb option for a delicious dinner.
There’s a local restaurant that has a few zucchini noodle options on their summer menu. One was served with ground turkey and tomato sauce. It was light with just a little bit of tomato, and surprisingly, served room temperature, almost cool.
I had expected either a cold zucchini salad with turkey breast pieces, or a hot version. So, when my zucchini noodles arrived with a light ground turkey sauce served at room temperature, I was surprised. It actually tasted really nice.
Chinese Five Spice Ground Turkey Zucchini Noodles is my version of a favorite dish my dad makes called Za Jiang Mian. Za Jiang Mian is typically made with Chinese bean sauce and hoisin sauce, but I used soy sauce and five spice powder in this recipe to mimic the flavors.
Making Zucchini Noodles with a Spiralizer
I finally broke down and bought a spiralizer earlier this Spring and have been using it mostly to make zucchini noodles for my husband and me. We’ve been trying to cut back on pasta so zucchini noodles have been an easy way to enjoy meals with the kids when they’re having pasta.
My spiralizer is made by Paderno and has four blades. It’s fairly sturdy and comes apart pretty easily.
Stir Frying Zucchini Noodles
I usually drop the zucchini noodles into a pot of boiling water and cook them for a few minutes to slightly cook them, but they often come out really watery. So, this time, I just tossed the zucchini noodles into the sauce and tossed them around until they were slightly cooked. They kept their shape much better and weren’t watery at all.
I made these Chinese Five Spice Ground Turkey Zucchini Noodles for this month’s Recipe Redux Challenge, “Get Your Fruits and Veggies in Shape. With produce galore, now’s a great time to enjoy lots of fruits and vegetables. Show us how you’re serving the bounty of gardens and orchards in shapes like ribbons, noodles, cut-outs, or other creative cuts.”
Give these Chinese Five Spice Ground Turkey Zucchini Noodles a try and let me know what you think.
3.67 from 3 votes
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Chinese Five Spice Ground Turkey Zucchini Noodles
If you have a spiralizer, you can make your own zucchini noodles. You can also find zucchini noodles at some supermarkets in the produce section.
8cupszucchini noodles~ 3-4 zucchini, depending on the size
Optional Add-Ins
2teaspoonsgingerminced
3clovesgarlicminced
1/2teaspoonred pepper chili flakes
Instructions
Heat oil in a large pan or wok. If desired, add ginger, garlic, and/or red pepper chili flakes. Saute turkey until brown; drain any liquid off. Add soy sauce, sugar, five-spice powder, sesame oil and water. Toss to coat meat well and cook for a few minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add zucchini noodles and toss to coat; cook for several minutes until done to your preference.
Recipe Notes
I like my zucchini noodles just barely cooked; otherwise they get soggy. If you let the hot zucchini noodles and sauce sit for a few minutes, the noodles will soften a little more. This is delicious eaten room temperature too. If you like spicy food, serve with Chinese hot bean sauce or add some red pepper flakes during the cooking process.
Nutrition Facts
Chinese Five Spice Ground Turkey Zucchini Noodles
Amount Per Serving
Calories 272Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Cholesterol 62mg21%
Sodium 599mg26%
Potassium 1603mg46%
Carbohydrates 17g6%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 13g14%
Protein 33g66%
Vitamin A 975IU20%
Vitamin C 84.9mg103%
Calcium 86mg9%
Iron 3.2mg18%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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2021-10-19 05:00:31
jeanette
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5 spice is a combination of cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds and cloves – the 5th ingredient can vary across recipes, we use sichuan peppercorns. But ginger and white pepper are also commonly used as the fifth component.
Should I Salt Zucchini Noodles? Don't pre-salt your zucchini noodles. First of all, one of the benefits of spiralizing is that it's SO quick (just spiralize, cook, and enjoy pasta in under 5 minutes!). Salting adds extra prep work.
What is five spice powder made of? Five spice is a blend of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns and fennel seeds. If you don't have Sichuan peppercorns to hand, you could substitute them for black peppercorns – the flavour will still be nice, although it won't have the same heat.
The blend's sweet and bitter notes lend themselves well to rich and fatty foods. Pork is a natural pairing for these flavors, especially ribs, pork belly, Char siu pork, and ground pork dishes like mapo tofu.
One of its best uses is as a spice rub or marinade for fatty meats like pork, duck, or goose. Chinese Five Spice is integral to any traditional Peking duck recipe. But it can work surprisingly well with lamb, beef, and meatballs too.
Especially when roasting, zucchini should be sliced into thick, ½ inch slices to ensure they don't get soggy in the oven. If your oven roasted zucchini is consistently turning out soggy, try slicing it a little thicker next time.
Line a baking sheet with paper towels and then place the zoodles on top of the paper towels. Sprinkle the zoodles with sea salt and then place them in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and gently press them with paper towels or a clean dishrag to release any remaining moisture.
Five spice is a mix of fennel, clove, anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorn (some Chinese add several other spices, considering “five spice” more of a concept than a hard rule). Allspice is ground up pimento berry… while it reminds of several other spices it's actually just a single spice.
What is Asian five spice, and what is it useful in? Five spice powder usually has clove, star anise, Szechuan pepper, cinnamon & fennel seed. Some regions switch out one of these and add ginger root. It was created to use all five tastes such as sweet, bitter, sour, salty and spicy.
Don't! We like our regular pasta with a nice al dente bite, and the same goes for cooking zoodles! If you serve a warm sauce over the noodles, it will gently heat them through, so no actual cooking is necessary.
“Sweat” the noodles in the oven for 30 minutes until the paper towels have absorbed most of the moisture that the zucchini let. Wrap the paper towels over the noodles and give them a good squeeze to extract any remaining liquid. *
To start with, Chinese five spice is Chinese in origin. Seven spice powder is Japanese, and also called shichimi togarashi. Unlike Five Spice, Seven spice's foundation is comprised of chilis, dried orange peel, sesame seed, dried ginger, and seaweed, as well as Sichuan peppercorns.
At first glance seven spice powder may sound like a variant on Chinese five spice powder, but they couldn't be more different. Or rather, they're exactly as different as their native cuisines. Five spice, fragrant with sweet and spicy anise flavors, is the perfect compliment to meaty Chinese braises and barbecues.
A blend of anise, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and ginger, it is designed to impart a wide variety of tastes to fit many different types of prepared foods. A combination that produces citrus, licorice, earthy and sweet cinnamon notes.
Known as “Wu Xiang Fen” in Mandarin, Chinese Five Spice was first created to represent the perfect partnership of Yin and Yang. It is believed to contain the five main flavours within Chinese cooking: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savoury.
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