I know what you are thinking… what is it with this chick and the glass noodles? People, I could eat these everyday. I think I must have been Vietnamese in a past life. Or Thai. My palette extends pretty far and wide but I find that when I’m trying to eat healthy, I could add cilantro and/or mint, basil, ginger and garlic and a squirt of fish sauce to just about everything. And I’m thinking the thai chili sauce isn’t so bad either. And I would rather not hear anything contradictory to that warm fuzzy feeling I have about it.
But first, the turkey kebabs…
I found this recipe in the same issue of FOOD & TRAVEL as the Rosenkuchen.. remember that hazelnut yeasted cake around Easter. Let’s just say that was a good issue.
Here’s the recipe for Chappali Puten-Kebab… aka in my world as Thai turkey patties. Now, since I like to be informative here, I have to make a confession. I googled Chappali Kebab. And found Pakastani Chapli kababs. And not until I went to write the recipe here, on this post, did I actually read the fine print in German declaring the Pakistani/ Afghanistan origins. When I see mint, cilantro, ginger and chili flakes I go straight to Thailand in my mind. It’s a small world.
No offense meant to you geography buffs out there, but here’s a little geography reminder… the aforementioned countries are all of course very unique, but certainly there is room for cross over in the arena of food.
Normally these are made with ground beef. And the cilantro is actually coriander seeds. You can trust me now that you have the background info. Bottom line…they were really good. Low fat and flavorful. I made a yogurt dip with peeled, seeded, diced cucumbers, fresh mint and cilantro. You know… that dip you eat with your Indian food.
I started with a a couple of cups of pepper that would have been mixed in color but my red peppers were hiding a not so nice inside. Shiitake mushrooms sauteed in a little olive oil and sesame oil, with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Fresh chopped cilantro, mint and basil for both the patties and the noodle salad.
Dressing for the glass noodles…sesame oil, rice vinegar, lime, thai chili sauce, fish sauce, fresh grated ginger… I also tossed fresh mizuna into the noodles.
Turkey Kebabs- Makes about 10 small patties. {Print Recipe} 500g (1#) ground turky 2 T mint, fresh minced 1 T basil, fresh minced 1 T cilantro, fresh minced 1 T fennel seeds chopped a bit 1 T (about 10g)ginger minced 1 tsp chile flakes 2 T yogurt 1 tsp salt dash of tamari 1 T fish sauce
Mix all of the above ingredients and form into small 2 inch patties. Damp hands helps with the stickiness of the ground turkey. These would make great hors d’oeuvres, appetizers, or as we had, for a main meal. Fry the patties up in a little sesame oil/canola blend.
Let drain a bit on towels…
As I mentioned, I made a little yogurt dip. I also sauteed wedges of cabbage in the pan after frying the patties. Simply add a little more oil and tamari. If it looks a little dry… add a touch of water. You get a steamy, saucy effect.
Or go for the appetizer…
These are recipes that will leave you feeling healthy and satisfied. Enjoy!
Tschüß,
Wendy's Place 
This recipe sounds so amazing – I can’t wait to try it. I also agree with you – glass noodles are amazing.
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Wendy, my favorite chef … I would like to place my order – the pancakes for breakfast .. and this for dinner. I don’t fancy turkey, but this … I will bite into without even thinking. Printing .. straight away.
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You could try the ground beef instead and I’d like to try it with ground lamb too… Sorry vegetarians- I wonder if you could do it with TVP?(texturized vegetable protein)?
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Lamb … brilliant idea – turkey isn’t that big thing here .. we can buy it, but no wide choices.
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I ask our butcher at the market on Fridays to grind up some putenbrust for me and I pick it up Saturday morning. I’ll try the lamb next week. yum.
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Love lamb too …. my favorite meat. Please let us know.
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Very nice Wendy. kababs with glass noodles – have never tasted this combination!
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Like I said… In my mind it was thai turkey patties and glass noodle salad. Made perfect sense- especially to my tastebuds. Just a matter of semantics 🙂
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OMG …. does that ever look good …. boy, Mr. O, you hit the jackpot in the culinary department! I can hear those sounds of sheer ecstasy when you munch on these babies! Bon Appetite, Ollie Man!
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My summer list is growing exponentially! I’d like to throw the kebabs and cabbage on the grill.
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Wow! They look delicious and I look forward to cooking these recipes on the weekend. Thanks!
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They are healthy, flavorful and really pretty simple. Good weekend or weeknight fare. It all can be done ahead too and would be fine to pull out of the fridge cold.
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this looks so amazing!! yummy!!!
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Thanks!
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what a nice meal! I love noodles as well.
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I realize now how much we eat these vermicelli 🙂
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I love glass noodles.. and your presentation of the turkey kebabs is so fun!! Everything I’d want in a dinner.. and wish I could have right this minute. I’m waiting for my works and other obligations to finish up so I can have a quiet evening and a chance to try making this dish.
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I made this last week and we liked it so much, I just made the turkey patties again last night. My daughter ate them with rice and I ate them with sauteed bell peppers and zucchini on a bed of arugula…with of course thai chili sauce.
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This looks like something I need to make asap! I love all of the components! So lovely!
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Hey – thanks for that. Hope you like it.
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I’ll have the entree please… I love the wedge of cabbage with this! Your posts make me hungry.
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I don’t know if it gets any better then this!
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Oh, that looks utterly amazing! And I can actually eat all of it! (no gluten) I have mint growing wild all over my yard. I need more recipes that use it. Yum.
~Daniél
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I tell you, this collection of herbs can be thrown in any ground meat.. maybe even tvp and put with things like glass noodles, cabbage leaves, endive cups. etc. throw a little chili sauce on there and it’s pure delight.
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Wonderful sounding recipe, Wendy! I love glass noodles and those ingredients to the kebabs are just what suit my Asian taste buds. I’m sure that the hubby will also love this. 🙂
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Thanks Malou- tasty and easy too.
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Oh Wendy, this sounds incredible…every flavor that I like. And your photos show what a pretty dish it is as well.
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Thanks Karen. It’s really pleasing to the taste buds. I wish I still had all these herbs growing in my garden! Might you? or will you come summer?
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I have basil and cilantro started in my potting shed. The mint and fennel come back each year in the garden. I do enjoy having fresh herbs available. Your recipe sounds so good.
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Lovely stuff – glass noodles are delicious so you’ve no reason to be justifying why you eat them so much 😛 Your photo arrangements are beautifully done (as always).
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Hi Lucy… I do love my mung bean vermicelli! Thanks for the thumbs up on the photos… i’ll be damned if I could get one on tastespotting!!
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Moin moin Wendy!
I stumbled across your beautiful blog whilst browsing through other’s comments. I love it! This recipe looks so tasty… I’m following now! Love the photos, I have a lot to learn about photographing food. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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I’ve just found your blog, and was drawn instantly to this recipe – another fan of glass noodles and the wonderful Vietnamese or Thai flavours. delicious.
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Glad you did. I love to cook full spectrum but often when I’m wanting light, healthy and packed with flavor, I head in this direction.
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ooooh. This looks good. Very creative, visually appealing, healthy and yummy. I’m going to try it.
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