Early this year I saw an article about world`s strangest deserts on Travel and Leisure magazine. Without reading, I knew Turkey must be in the list with this desert. As I was going through the list, I thought other deserts were not as weird as ours! So get this, if you are ever asked the question about the world`s strangest desert on Trivial Pursuit or something, remember, Turkey makes the weirdest desert on earth. It is called Tavukgogsu! It means chicken breast in Turkish. And, yes, it has real chicken breast in it, that is why it is weird! Tastes like chicken? Of course not, you’d hardly know it. Its history goes back to the kitchen of Ottoman Empire. How on earth did they come up with such a desert? My guess, just dumb luck . Otherwise, I do not think even the most experimentalist, fusionist chef would not try such an odd combination. It must have been a mistake! But ladies and gentlemen, what a delicious mistake!!
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Tavukgogsu
1 chicken breast (around 8-10 oz (200-300 gr))
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1.75 lt (0.46 gallons) milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1/3 cups floor çorba kaşığı un
1/3 cups starch
1/6 cups rice floor
1. Add lemon juice to the water and poach chicken in it, until fully cooked. Leave the lid open at all times to get rid of the chicken smell. When done, let it cool a little. Then with your hands shred the chicken into thin fibers. Wash them troughly under water. And leave them in water while you prepare the milk. It is better to renew the water couple times at this stage.
2. Put the milk, salt and sugar to a pot. Stir until it boils. Put flour, starch and rice floor to a bowl, add milk and 1/4 cup water in it. Stir and make sure it completely dissolves. Slowly add the mixture to the milk. Stir for 5 minutes on low heat.
3. Add chicken fibers and stir with fork for another 10-15 minutes. Take it from heat and mix with a hand mixer for 5 minutes.
4. You can serve in bowls or you can pour it in a plate and slice it when it is ready to serve. After pouring them into bowls or a big serving plate you need to wait over night to get the texture right. The texture must be a hard but still jiggly pudding. It best served with ice-cream.