Spiced Roasted Turkey

Pushing a buttery spice paste underneath the turkey’s skin allows the flavor to perfume the meat—and gives it extra juiciness. Here, we use the favorite Indian combination of garlic and ginger paste, along with the technique of toasting spices and then grinding them, for the freshest, most powerful result. Though the paste may smell pungent, its flavor, once the turkey has been cooked, is quite gentle.

Yield:

Serves 8

Ingredients

1. 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2. 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
3. 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
4. 2 whole cloves
5. 1/2 teaspoon star anise pieces
6. 4 teaspoons coarse sea salt
7. 2 tablespoons finely grated (with a Microplane) peeled ginger (a 5-inch piece)
8. 2 tablespoons finely grated (with a Microplane) garlic (8 cloves)
9. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
10. 1 (14-pound) turkey at room temperature 1 hour, any feathers and quills removed with tweezers or needlenose pliers, reserving neck and giblets (discard liver)
11. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12. 2 bunches scallions, coarsely chopped
13. 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
14. 2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
15. 6 (1/4-inch-thick) slices fresh ginger
16. 1 cup Chinese rice wine, such as Shaoxing, or medium-dry Sherry
17. 4 to 5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
18. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
19. 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF with rack in lowest position.
2. Toast spices with sea salt in a dry small heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and coriander is a shade darker, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to grinder and pulse until finely ground. Reserve 1 teaspoon spice mixture, then stir together remaining spice mixture with grated ginger, garlic, and butter to form a paste.
3. Rinse turkey inside and out, then pat dry. Fold neck skin under body. Starting at large cavity end of turkey, gently slide your fingers between skin and flesh of breast and legs to loosen skin, being careful not to tear skin. Using a spoon, slide spice paste under skin of turkey breast and legs, pushing butter out of spoon with a finger on outside of skin (do not put spice paste under turkey skin in advance). Tie drumsticks together with kitchen string and tuck wings under body.
4. Pat giblets and neck pieces dry and cut into 1-inch pieces. Heat vegetable oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté giblets and neck pieces, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add scallions, carrots, celery, and sliced ginger and sauté, stirring, until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.
5. Add rice wine and boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, 1 minute. Stir in 4 cups broth, soy sauce, and reserved teaspoon spice mixture and bring to a boil. Pour mixture into roasting pan, then set rack in roasting pan, arranging neck pieces and vegetables around rack as necessary (liquid should be just below bottom of rack).
6. Roast turkey on rack, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through roasting, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into fleshy part of thighs (test both, close to but not touching bone) registers 170ºF, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
7. Carefully tilt turkey so juices from inside large cavity run into roasting pan, then transfer turkey to a platter, reserving juices in roasting pan. Let turkey stand, uncovered, 30 minutes (temperature of thigh meat will rise to 175ºF).
8. MAKE GRAVY WHILE TURKEY STANDS:
9. Strain pan juices through a large fine-mesh sieve into 1-quart measure, pressing hard on and then discarding solids, and let stand until fat rises to top. Skim off and discard fat. (If using a fat separator, pour pan juices through sieve into separator and let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully pour pan juices from separator into measuring cup, discarding fat.) You should have 4 cups stock. If there is less, add more broth. If there's more, boil to reduce. Transfer all but 1/2 cup stock to a heavy medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
10. Whisk together cornstarch and 1/2 cup reserved stock in a small bowl until smooth, then whisk into boiling stock and boil, whisking occasionally, 2 minutes. Serve turkey with gravy.

Notes

Spice mixture can be toasted and ground 1 day ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.