Learn how to make this delicious island style turkey neck soup (MY WAY). A soup that is so filling, delicious, flavoursome and comforting. Pieces of turkey neck pressure cooked, combined with a variety of ground provisions herbs, spices, dumpling and simmered to make the best seasonal soup.
You know that the holiday season is right around the corner when you see a turkey neck recipe pop up.
Anything or should I say, all things turkey related are akin to Thanksgiving and/or Christmas time.
Last year was so chaotic with back to back seasonal recipes that I just didn't have enough time left over to make this specific soup dish.
I promised myself to put aside some time to show you guys, how I make it. This recipe is one that I grew up on but didn't appreciate it until I become an adult.
Please keep in mind I'm showing you MY METHOD, as it will most likely vary from how you make yours. It's not 100% authentic as I have made adjustments to suit how we like ours!!
My grandmother/mother would always make this soup on Christmas and Boxing day as a starter for our large family gathering before we moved onto the main meal.
We like to start the soup by using the bones and carcass of the turkey, preferably roasted bones to make the base, this gives it the best depth in flavour.
We don't go too heavy with the pumpkin, we use most of it for that rich colour and to form a nice texture. Plus, I'm a yellow yam girl at heart!
What is turkey neck soup?
In short, it's a soup made from the turkey neck bones although this Caribbean version is different from how other parts of the world may make theirs.
A lot of ground provisions (root vegetables), other vegetables, herbs and spices are included along with a soup mix to enhance the taste. It's very hearty and tasty!
Unlike oxtail, turkey neck is very inexpensive, you can get a couple of pounds from your local butcher/meat man for dirt cheap.
For some reason turkey neck isn't as high value as oxtail, which was once poor mans food. Many people refer to turkey neck as the ghetto version of oxtail due to its low cost.
Nevertheless, if made correctly, it makes some amazing soup. The key to good tasting turkey neck soup is to boil the neck bones to extract its flavour from the bones.
We like to pressure cooker ours and couple up the turkey neck with the leftover turkey bones or the carcass.
I used my instant pot, a modern alternative to the whistling stovetop pressure cooker.
It still does the same job, I don't make the entire soup in my instant pot because I like to check and adjust the soup as I go along, which explains why I only use it for the first stage of the cooking process.
The steps
- Sprinkle the all purpose seasoning onto the turkey neck, coating evenly then set aside.
- Place the turkey neck and carcass in the pressure cooker/instant pot along with scallion, black peppercorns, pimento berries, thyme and the water.
- Secure the lid, select "pressure cook" and adjust to 30 minutes then set the valve to "sealing".
- While the turkey neck is pressure cooking, cook half of the pumpkin (you can steam it or boil it in water) then crush it with a fork or potato masher and set it aside.
- Once the time is up, do a quick release and switch the valve to "venting" be careful as the steam will immediately shoot upwards, so keep your face away from the lid.
- Remove any fat/scum/residue from the surface with a spoon before using it.
- Remove the scallion, turkey carcass, black peppercorns and discard them.
- Transfer the turkey stock that you just made along with the turkey neck to a large stock pot.
- Bring the stock pot to a boil (it will boil quickly since the liquid is already hot) then add the crushed pumpkin then stir.
- Now add the vegetables/herbs - cho cho, yellow yam, carrot, sweet corn, scallion, pimento berries, thyme and the cock soup mix and stir then reduce the heat to medium/low.
- Place the flour in a medium sized bowl with the pink salt
- Gradually pour the water into the bowl (you may not need all of it) and make a firm doughball.
- Pinch off a small amount of dough and roll in the palm of your hands to make "spinners" and make discs to make regular dumpling
- Start to add them as you make them to the pot.
- Once the dumpling/spinners are added, add the scotch bonnet, partly cover the pot (if it is possible) and allow to simmer for 1hr - 1 ½ hour (skim off any additional foam if needed). If you want the soup thicker, use the back of a spoon to mash some of the potato/pumpkin.
- Do a taste test and adjust for additional onion/garlic powder or granules along with black pepper and pink salt.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, I would recommend it because this will help to give that depth of flavour to your soup.
Simply place the carcass in the oven (on a baking tray) at 180c/356f for about 10-15 minutes or until the carcass is golden brown.
Everyone has their preference when it comes to Saturday soup, for instance I like to add sweet potato to mine while others, like Irish potato, I also don't go overboard with the amount of pumpkin that is used, so just play around the ground provisions.
We usually serve the soup immediately for leave some overnight (refrigerated). It doesn't go past 2 days and I haven't frozen this soup before.
Head to any neighbourhood or marketplace that caters to African/Caribbean and/ or latinos.
If it's your first time making this soup then ask around if you aren't sure what to buy and the amount to use.
Absolutely! Just use an alternative flour or spelt flour is a great choice if you aren't wheat intolerant.
Notes and tips
- This is the recipe link to my All Purpose Seasoning and Homemade Cock Soup Mix. If you are wheat intolerant then you will find this useful.
- Save yourself some time by peeling the vegetables ahead of time. Have some water mixed with a few teaspoons of pink salt/lemon juice in a bowl and once you peel the vegetables (especially the yam and sweet potatoes) leave them in the bowl of salt water as this will prevent discolouring.
- Use a stock pot that yields at least 4 quarts/3 litres to avoid the risk of any over spill onto your stovetop.
- Because this recipe is quite time consuming, to speed things up I recommend boiling or steaming your pumpkin while the turkey neck/bones are being pressure cooked.
- You can add the scallion/green onion to the soup whole if you want to, I prefer to slice mine up but a lot of Caribbean people keep theirs whole.
- As per Caribbean custom, be sure to wash the turkey neck with vinegar and lime/lemon and salt (if you include it too).
- Turkey neck takes a while to cook so I do recommend pressure cooking it first of all.
- If you don't own an instant pot, use the old style of pressure cooker, that's what I used prior to getting an instant pot.
- You can include whatever vegetables and ground provisions you want, sweet corn, yam, cocoyam, dasheen, cho cho etc...
Other dumpling you can add to your soup
Other soup recipes to try
- Mutton Soup
- Jamaican Chicken Soup
- Jamaican Beef Soup
- Red Pea Soup
- Pumpkin Soup
- Coconut Prawn Soup
- Trinidad Corn Soup
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Turkey Neck Soup
Ingredients
To make the base for the soup
- 1½-2 lb turkey neck (680g-1.3kg)
- 3 tablespoon all purpose seasoning (45g) see notes for recipe
- leftover turkey bones or carcass (preferably roasted)
- 3 scallion ends trimmed
- ½ tablespoon peppercorns (7.5g)
- 6 pimento berries
- 4 sprigs thyme tied together
- 10 cups water (2½ litres)
To make the soup
- 1-1½ lb calabaza pumpkin (560g) chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 1 small potato chopped (Irish or sweet potato)
- ½ lb yellow yam (450g) chopped
- 4-6 ears of corn
- 1 cho cho chopped
- 2 scallion/green onion sliced (or trim the ends and keep them whole)
- 6-8 sprigs thyme tied together
- 10 pimento berries
- scotch bonnet
- 4 tablespoon Cock soup mix I used my homemade version, see the recipe link or use 1 packet
- additional black pepper, garlic/onion powder/granules and pink salt to taste
To make the dumpling and spinners
- 2 cups gluten free flour
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon pink salt
Instructions
To make the base for the soup
- Sprinkle the all purpose seasoning onto the turkey neck, coating evenly then set aside.
- Place the turkey neck and carcass in the pressure cooker/instant pot along with scallion, black peppercorns, pimento berries, thyme and the water.
- Secure the lid, select "pressure cook" and adjust to 30 minutes then set the valve to "sealing".
- While the turkey neck is pressure cooking, cook half of the pumpkin (you can steam it or boil it in water) then crush it with a fork or potato masher and set it aside.
- Once the time is up, do a quick release and switch the valve to "venting" be careful as the steam will immediately shoot upwards, so keep your face away from the lid.
- Remove any fat/scum/residue from the surface with a spoon before using it.
- Remove the scallion, turkey carcass, black peppercorns and discard them
To make the soup
- .Transfer the turkey stock that you just made along with the turkey neck to a large stock pot.
- Bring the stock pot to a boil (it will boil quickly since the liquid is already hot) then add the crushed pumpkin then stir.
- Now add the vegetables/herbs - cho cho, yellow yam, carrot, sweet corn, scallion, pimento berries, thyme and the cock soup mix and stir then reduce the heat to medium/low.
To make the dumpling and spinners
- Place the flour in a medium sized bowl with the pink salt.
- Gradually pour the water into the bowl (you may not need all of it) and make a firm doughball.
- Pinch off a small amount of dough and roll in the palm of your hands to make "spinners" and make discs to make regular dumpling.
- Start to add them as you make them to the pot.
- Once the dumpling/spinners are added, add the scotch bonnet, partly cover the pot (if it is possible) and allow to simmer for 1hr - 1 ½ hour (skim off any additional foam if needed).
- If you want the soup thicker, use the back of a spoon to mash some of the potato/pumpkin.
- Do a taste test and adjust for additional onion/garlic powder or granules along with black pepper and pink salt.
Notes
- This is the recipe link to my All Purpose Seasoning and Homemade Cock Soup Mix. If you are wheat intolerant then you will find this useful.
- Save yourself some time by peeling the vegetables ahead of time. Have some water mixed with a few teaspoons of pink salt/lemon juice in a bowl and once you peel the vegetables (especially the yam and sweet potatoes) leave them in the bowl of salt water as this will prevent discolouring.
- Use a stock pot that yields at least 4 quarts/3 litres to avoid the risk of any over spill onto your stovetop.
- Because this recipe is quite time consuming, to speed things up I recommend boiling or steaming your pumpkin while the turkey neck/bones are being pressure cooked.
- You can add the scallion/green onion to the soup whole if you want to, I prefer to slice mine up but a lot of Caribbean people keep theirs whole.
- As per Caribbean custom, be sure to wash the turkey neck with vinegar and lime/lemon and salt (if you include it too).
- Turkey neck takes a while to cook so I do recommend pressure cooking it first of all.
- If you don't own an instant pot, use the old style of pressure cooker, that's what I used prior to getting an instant pot.
- You can include whatever vegetables and ground provisions you want, sweet corn, yam, cocoyam, dasheen, cho cho etc...
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