I’m not a huge fan of turkey, especially when it’s done the traditional North American way – roasted in the oven. I much prefer getting the cheaper cuts like the necks (Curry Turkey Necks) and in this case, wings. Though a bit tougher than chicken wings, I find that they hold up well to the Caribbean way of stewing and the outcome is quite delightful. Tender pieces of meat, with a wonderful gravy which is excellent on rice, potato, dumplings, roti or ground provisions. The key is in the way we’ll season, marinate and finally braise these turkey wings in a process which is most traditional to the Southern Caribbean.
You’ll Need…
3-4 lbs turkey wings
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tomato (diced)
1 small onion (diced)
3 scallions (Chopped)
1 birds eye chili (1/4 scotch bonnet)
3 sprigs thyme
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon chopped shado beni (or cilantro)
2 seasoning peppers (known as pimento peppers)
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon veg oil
1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
3 cups water
Note: If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to ensure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs – especially the Worcestershire sauce.
Have your butcher cut the turkey wings into same-size pieces for you, wash and drain. Then season with all the ingredients mentioned above, except the water, veg oil and brown sugar. Mix well, then cover and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 2-3 hours. Overnight would be best, but not necessary.
Heat the veg oil on a high flame in a heavy pot, then add the brown sugar and stir. It will clump, but after a while it will start to melt. Turn the fan on above your stove or open your kitchen window as it can get a bit smokey. Remember to use a dry long handle spoon. Keep stirring the sugar.. it will melt, go foamy/frothy and start changing color… you want it to get to an amber colour. Have the seasoned turkey wings very close as you need to act relatively fast. (watch the video below) As it goes a rich amber color, start adding the pieces of seasoned turkey wings and stir. IMPORTANT – you are adding wet wings to VERY hot molten sugar, so be careful and use a long handle spoon. Stir well, to coat all the pieces of turkey with the lovely color.
Turn the heat down to medium, cover the pot and let it go for about 10 minutes. Yes, it’s ok if some of the marinade goes into the pot as you added the turkey wings. In the same bowl you marinated the wings, pour in the water and move around to pick-up all the remaining marinade – we’ll need that soon. The wings will spring up it’s own natural juices in the pot. Remember to stir it a few times to color it evenly. To intensify the flavor and color of the stew, remove the lid off the pot and crank up the heat to high. It’s time to burn off all that liquid. The goal is to have a dry pot, with the sight of the veg oil at the bottom of the pot that we started of with. Now pour in the water and bring to a boil. This step will now gently cook the wings to perfection.
When it comes to a boil reduce it to a simmer, cover the pot and let it go for about 70-90 minutes. Remember to stir every 10-15 minutes and keep an eye on your liquid level. After about 80 minutes, they should be fully tender, it’s now time to personalize the dish a bit. You can remove the lid and turn the heat up to get the gravy to the consistency you like and remember to taste it for salt and adjust accordingly. Your tolerance for salt will be different than mine.
Top with some chopped scallions and serve!
Based on 48 Review(s)
Hi How many people does this recipe serve? assuming normal 8 oz portion of meat.
It looks good so far
I’ll try this today looks good will go with scallop potatoes I made yesterday
I really want to try this and I bought a slow cooker yesterday and this will be my first time using it any tips on preparing this recipe in a slow cooker
I truly look forward to all your recipes on Caribbean cooking
Hi Chris – great recipe. when it comes time to simmer for 70 minutes – I put in a pyrex dish with a tight cover and throw in the oven for 60 minutes @ 350 degrees. Then check for gravy level and cook for another 20 minutes. I find this easier than having to keep stirring. Tender and nice gravy.
If I use chicken how long do I cook it?
I just made this with chicken, specifically drumsticks and it turned out pretty wonderful. i let it simmer for about an hour and ten but i made sure and stirred the pot every 10 to 12 minutes. the sauce had a good thickness with a good volume at about the 70 minute mark so i stopped it there. i like to have sauce to pour over the rice though. if i wanted to let it thicken up more i could have gone to 80, but anything beyond that i think would have started to burn things. hope that helps!
P.S. I still want to do something new with my turkey wings, but my husband is a Caribbean as they come. I think I’ll try to please us both and curry these bad boys with some coconut milk, fresh basil, and lemongrass -(for that exotic Asian influence). Same principle as your Stewed Turkey recipe, but I’ll ‘brown’ the curry instead of using sugar, and use the milk instead of water.
very similar to what we call curry-stew in the southern Caribbean.. minus the lemon grass and basil.
What’s so “Southern Caribbean” about this recipe? I happen to be from the very Northern part of the Caribbean and this is a very common dish up here. So, I’d like to correct you by stating that the way you’ve cooked this is in fact a “VERY” delicious, but also “Very Caribbean” dish. Now, add some red beans or lentils and rice, mac pie, stir-fried veggies, and plantains and you’ll have an Extremely Caribbean Dinner.
Much love and thanks for posting this recipe. I was searching for a new way to cook turkey wings, and kept rejecting every other recipe that I came across. I saw your photo and thought it looked appetizing, so I clicked it. And… sigh. It just figures that the only way I want my turkey wings is if they’re done exactly this way – the Caribbean way (stewed/sugared/or gravied).
I stress “Southern” as the brown sugar type stewing is predominantly “Southern Caribbean” Jamaica, Cayman, Most of Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, St Maartens, Guadeloupe.. I can go on. doesn’t use (for the most part) the technique. However, if you ask a person, from St Lucia, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago about ‘stew’, the technique of melting the sugar (not adding browning) they would automatically think about this method. Yes, I have traveled to all the islands mentioned.