[2023 update] Where to Buy a whole Turkey in Taipei?

3 minutes read

It is Thanksgiving / Christmas, and you are looking to cook a turkey in Taipei for your group of friends. You came at the right place!

Note: In 2023 (and 2022), turkeys are in short supply. Your best chance is probably to contact one of the farm in Chiayi I’ve listed below.

From a farm (online)

Chiayi is home of the turkey rice (jirou fan). Many local farms can sell you from thei online shops or Line. I’ve listed a couple ones I’ve contacted:

Idol turkey on shopee

Believe it or not, we ordered the turkey on shopee in 2022 and 2023. And it turned out really nicely. You’ll receive the turkey frozen, so account 3 days for defrosting it in your fridge + 3 days for brining it.

Here the result: Turkey Thanksgiving - Farm Shopee

2000TWD for a ~8kg bird 2500TWD for a ~10kg bird

Pasta & Co

Take home price : $4,880 NTD

Turkey (6/7KG) is brined in a special white wine brine for 96 hours then it is air dried in fridge for 72 hours, roasted and then crispied in the fryer. The last date of pre-order (if quantity is still available) is 11/15 12PM

It seems to include a cake, mac and cheese and potatoes.

Order: https://www.facebook.com/PASTACOTAIWAN/

Taiwan Turkey Store Food

I didn’t try that one yet

1900TWD + 200TWD delivery for 8kg (17lbs). They will send you the frozen turkey.

Turkey Chef (火雞總舖)

They have quite big turkey, 13kg (28lbs). But way too big for my oven.

Thomas meat (in Taipei)

They seem to have options from 1200 to 2600 TWD for a 4.5kg cooked bird

Costco (not available in 2022 and 2023)

I usually get my turkey at Costco. They usually have the Frozen, pre-brine, Butterballs Turkeys , and appear around mid-october to December at any Costco location in Taiwan. They weight about 7kg (16lbs) and are imported from the US.

You will need to have a Costco membership (costs 1350TWD/year).

Note: 2022 and 2023 won’t be in Costco.

Costco Turkey thanksgiving 2023

Dimensions of a turkey by weight - Will the turkey fits inside my oven?

If you are really lucky, your apartment in Taiwan will come with an oven integrated in the kitchen. And here come the question… will the turkey will fit in your oven? Turkeys vary in size and all the same, here some dimensions I found I hope will help you:

  • 4kg – 22cm (w) x 30cm (L) x 15cm (h)

  • 7.4kg - 27cm (w) x 35cm (L) x 19 cm (h)

  • 7.5kg - 26cm (w) x 33cm (L) x 17cm (h)

  • 10kg - 32cm (w) x 39cm (L) x 19cm (h)

  • 10kg – 31cm (w) x 38cm (L) x 20cm (h)

  • 12.5kg - 30cm (w) x 41cm (L) x 20cm (h)

  • 13kg - 30cm (w) x 43cm (L) x 20cm (h)

  • 13kg – 33cm (w) x 39cm (L) x 20cm (h)

If you are not lucky to have a big enough oven, it exists some really big portable oven like this one from yamazaki but might be really expensive (maybe 25,000TWD). An other alternative is to book a cooking class that have those integrated ovens for a few hours and host your party there.

Next read:

🍤 Restaurants I recommend after living 5 years in Taipei

🚲 Taiwan’s amazing bike-sharing system

💰 How to invest in ETFs and Stocks from Taiwan


Reddit
WhatsApp