Thanksgiving Turkeys

There is a butcher shop on LeThi Hong Gam where I usually buy cuts of meat, the quality is good and a clean shop.
The woman knows me now and a few days ago asked if I wanted to order a Turkey for US Thanksgiving. I told her I wasn't American but after that I couldn't get the taste of roast turkey off my mind. Today I caved and ordered a five kilo bird that would fit in my oven. They were being flown in from the United States and not domestic, cost is 144k per kilo bringing my turkey at around $35 US. Pretty expensive I'll admit but I wouldn't know where else to buy one.
My question to anyone is, are turkeys raised domestically in Vietnam, and where else are they available? Frozen is fine too. My wife didn't even know what a turkey was.

:) HI!  I AM FROM USA, I LIKE TURKEY FOR THANKSGIVING.  I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW YOUR TURKEY TASTE LIKE.  WE HAVE CHURCH ON EVERY SUNDAY CANH MANG.  YOU AND YOUR WIFE ARE WELCOME ANY TIME.  I AM AN ASIAN LADY IN THE MID 50'S.

SO FAR, THERE IS NO TURKEY I KNOW IN VIET NAM, IF I FOUND OUT WHERE, I WILL LET YOU KNOW.

Thanks, I may pass on church but you are most welcome to eat roast turkey with my family. :)

The biggest challenge to getting a decent size turkey roasted is finding the oven big enough to handle the task.

But ChoLon has the answer! Many meat vendors have the means to roast pigs, Cha-Siew (Chinese BBQ Roasted Pork) and ducks AS WELL AS YOUR TURKEY!

And Chinese barbequed meat professionally cooked will make your significant other so very happy.

Jaitch wrote:

The biggest challenge to getting a decent size turkey roasted is finding the oven big enough to handle the task.

But ChoLon has the answer! Many meat vendors have the means to roast pigs, Cha-Siew (Chinese BBQ Roasted Pork) and ducks AS WELL AS YOUR TURKEY!

And Chinese barbequed meat professionally cooked will make your significant other so very happy.


So very true about oven size, we had to gauge it using a water bottle and convey it likewise to the vendor, our oven is standard size counter top model,
Not like the good ole days when Loblaws had birds frozen at 99cents a pound and 20 kilos slipped comfortably into a Kenmore range.;)
We know Cholon, but basting and stuffing a turkey would be too foreign on them. My wife is only learning about cooking with ovens but we've churned out some delicious meals and it's been fun.

Frank Malt wrote:

We know Cholon, but basting and stuffing a turkey would be too foreign on them. My wife is only learning about cooking with ovens but we've churned out some delicious meals and it's been fun.


YOU do the STUFFING. Chinese don't baste - at least according to you? How do you think they cook chickens and ducks?

Of course they know how to baste.

Jaitch wrote:
Frank Malt wrote:

We know Cholon, but basting and stuffing a turkey would be too foreign on them. My wife is only learning about cooking with ovens but we've churned out some delicious meals and it's been fun.


YOU do the STUFFING. Chinese don't baste - at least according to you? How do you think they cook chickens and ducks?

Of course they know how to baste.


Yes I understand but with basting comes a rich gravy for the mash potatoes and Asians don't understand the gravy concept. Are you going to tell me that when Southern Ontario makes turkey dinner, there is no gravy?

Frank Malt wrote:

Yes I understand but with basting comes a rich gravy for the mash potatoes and Asians don't understand the gravy concept. Are you going to tell me that when Southern Ontario makes turkey dinner, there is no gravy?


Older cooks are still familiar with gravy making - I remember how boring stirring a flat pan of grease and flour can be.

Younger cooks use packeted mixes.

You can easily get FREE roasting drippings in ChoLon - it saves the drains from clogging so fast.

I have had Vietnamese refer to 'gravy' as 'meat sauce'.

What put me off turkeys and chickens in North America was the way they culled male birds which are useless for fattening up.

I wonder what vegans and vegetarians eat at (US) Thanksgiving?

Hi Frank,

I'd like to grab a turkey for Thanksgiving; could you direct me to the proper location?

Thanks.

In America when I was vegetarian I ate tofurkey, a soy version.   It tooj awhile to figure out how to make gravy.

I live in Bangkok and Western grocery stores are everywhere here, and frozen turkey.   We use a version of a toaster oven with temperature settingso even roasting a chicken would be pushing it.

yttocs wrote:

Hi Frank,

I'd like to grab a turkey for Thanksgiving; could you direct me to the proper location?

Thanks.


Yes I can,
Kim Hai trading company
73 Le Thi Hong Gam, Nguyen Thai Binh ward Q1
0839144376   0838216057

You have to pre order it, then pick it uo on November 27
(no deposit)

Thank you.

Giant in Phu My Hung had them last year. Don't exactly recall price but don't recall it being $35... but maybe it was.

I'd bet anything Metro will have them soon if not now here in D2. Any place foreigners are they will be here too. :)

milkybunnyHCM wrote:

Giant in Phu My Hung had them last year.


There is NO Giants Food Store in Phu My Hung. It is over a kilometre away from the PMH Ward limits.

The correct address is:
GIANTS
Crescent Mall Basement
Hoang Van Trai Street, Phường Tân Phú
Quận 7, Hồ Chí Minh


Go to the Killer Intersection at NGUYEN VAN LINH @ NGUYEN LUONG BANG. Turn right at the traffic lights opposite Parksons.

Covered parking At REAR of CRESCENT MALL, off HOANG VAN THAI. FREE before 18.00H (new).

There are several western food shops on Hàm Nghi that are small, but packed with a lot of western style food. They are all selling turkeys. If you are at Bến Tành and go down Hàm Nghi East towards the river, pull a U-turn so you are now traveling West on the North side of the road back towards Bến Tành, you will see several of them on your right. They have small storefronts, but they are deep and have two stories.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I WOULD LIKE TO COME.  MY EMAIL; [email protected]

Perhaps if you go back next week they will be cheaper ... then you can save for Christmas.

Jaitch wrote:

The biggest challenge to getting a decent size turkey roasted is finding the oven big enough to handle the task.

But ChoLon has the answer! Many meat vendors have the means to roast pigs, Cha-Siew (Chinese BBQ Roasted Pork) and ducks AS WELL AS YOUR TURKEY!

And Chinese barbequed meat professionally cooked will make your significant other so very happy.


Do you know how much it costs for them to roast a turkey, or how much I should offer? I'm thinking of doing this...

I AM NOT SURE I REPLY TO THE RIGHT BOX, THANK YOU FOR THE THANKSGIVING TURKEY ADVANCE, MY EMAIL ; [email protected]