Soul Food · side

Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey and Pot Likker

Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey and Pot Likker reads richness 6.6, umami 6.3 and sourness 5.2 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Soul Food side, about 2 hr 54 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.9 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.8 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 5.3 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.7 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 6.6 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 5.3 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 6.6 · Umami 6.3 · Sourness 5.2 · Allium 5.0 · Salinity 4.5 · Sweetness 2.6 · Heat 2.3 · Smoke 2.2 · Earthy 2.1 · Warm Spice 1.7 · Funk & Ferment 1.4 · Bitterness 1.0 · Fruity 0.7 · Floral 0.6 · Herbaceous 0.5

What's in it (12)

• collard greens — 1400 g
• turkey wings — 700 g
• water — 2500 g
• yellow onion — 280 g
• garlic — 18 g
• bacon drippings — 27 g
• cane syrup — 15 g
• apple cider vinegar — 30 g
• red chili flakes — 5 g
• salt — 7 g
• black pepper — 5 g
• hot pepper vinegar — 120 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 54 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 24 kcal, 3.3 g protein, 0.8 g fat, 0.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

1. Say it plainly at the start: the pot likker is not a byproduct. It is the reason the greens were cooked this way. The liquid that comes out of collards over two hours carries the vitamins that boiled out of them and the smoke that went in, and in a great many households it was the part that got poured over cornbread and counted as the meal. Cook the greens so the likker is good and the greens will take care of themselves.
2. Put the smoked turkey in a large heavy pot with the water. Bring it to a boil, then drop to a simmer and cook 1 hour uncovered, until the meat is loosening and the water has turned the colour of weak tea and smells of smoke. This is the base of the likker and it cannot be made in less time.
3. Meanwhile, stack the collard leaves, roll them into a cigar and cut them across into 2 cm ribbons. Wash them in three changes of cold water — collards hold grit in the crimps and one sandy mouthful ruins the pot.
4. Push the turkey to one side, add the bacon drippings, onion and garlic to the pot and let them soften in the broth for 8 minutes.
5. Add the collards a great armful at a time, pushing each addition down with a spoon and letting it collapse before the next goes in, about 6 minutes to get them all in. Once they are all under the liquid, simmer uncovered 1 hour 15 minutes, until a ribbon is completely tender and has no squeak left in it. Undercooked collards are bitter and tough; this is not a vegetable you keep bright green.
6. Pull the turkey out, shred the meat off the bones and return it. Stir in the cane syrup, cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper and let it go 5 minutes more. Taste the likker on its own with a spoon — that is what you are seasoning, not the leaves. Serve the greens wet, in bowls, with their liquid and the hot pepper vinegar on the table.
7. Substitutions: necks can stand in for the smoked turkey wings; sorghum syrup can stand in for the cane syrup.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Brunswick Stew with Pulled Pork — Southern
• Smothered Cabbage and Kielbasa Skillet — Southern
• BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Slaw — Southern
• Refried Beans — Mexican
• Adobong Puti (White Adobo with Vinegar, Garlic and Bay) — Filipino

Keep reading: what richness, umami, sourness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.