So back at the beginning of March when the shelter in place was first mandated, my aunt told me that after calling multiple grocery stores, she finally secured 10 bags of frozen okra. Until then, I didn't realize that okra was a highly coveted item.
Then I talked to my sisters and mom. They said, "it is well known among Asians", that okra is great for those who are diabetic or pre-diabetic because it helps to lower blood glucose levels. OK... "well known to all Asians" except me. So of course, I turned to google for my "research".
I couldn't find any clinical trials to prove or disprove whether eating okra (and how much, or at what frequency) helped to control diabetes, but there were animal studies that demonstrated that okra can aid in lowering blood sugar levels.
Whether true or not, all this reading inspired me to purchase some okra. There's plenty in the frozen section of my local Safeway now. It's a vegetable I hardly ever cook with, but I decided it would work well in a saucy Asian dish. Hence the recipe below was "born".
This tastes like your typical recipe for "Chinese beef and peas with oyster sauce", but the beef and peas are substituted with ground turkey and okra respectively. It's so comforting when served over a bowl of hot rice. Garnish with green onions or some tobiko if you want to be fancy.
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| Gather all ingredients |
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| Brown ground turkey |
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| Add onions, okra and aromatics |
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| Add the sauce and cook until thickened |
Yields 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground turkey, 93% lean
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 t ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 c frozen chopped okra (or fresh okra)
- ½ t salt
- ½ t ground black pepper
- chopped green onions or tobiko for garnish (optional)
Sauce ingredients:
- 2 c chicken broth
- 2 T oyster sauce
- 1 T soy sauce
- 1 T mirin
- 1 t sugar
- 2 T cornstarch
- 1 t sesame oil
Procedures:
1. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2. Add olive oil to a nonstick pan and brown the ground turkey over medium high heat.
3. When the turkey is browned, add in the diced onions, frozen okra, minced garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are translucent (about 5 minutes).
4. Pour in the sauce, and cook with constant stirring until the sauce has thickened (about 5 minutes). If the sauce is too thick, add some water to thin it out. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve over hot rice, and your favorite hot sauce on the side.