Beef and Broccoli, Camp Wok
Marinated steak, dried broccoli, and a soy-ginger sauce that thickens in the pan.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 58
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 300 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Flank or skirt steak | 3/4 lb | sliced 1/4 inch against the grain at home, frozen flat, carried in the cooler |
|---|---|---|
| Soy sauce | 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp | split; the larger share is the marinade |
| Baking soda | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried broccoli florets | 1 cup | freeze-dried or dehydrated |
| Cornstarch | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic | 1 tsp | minced, or 1/2 tsp granulated |
| Ginger | 1 tsp | minced, or 1/2 tsp ground |
| Brown sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Sesame oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Vegetable oil | 1-1/2 tsp | |
| Sesame seeds | 1 tbsp |
Method
- At camp, put the steak strips in a zip bag with 1/4 cup soy sauce and the baking soda. Leave it in the cooler at least 15 minutes while you do everything else.
- Cover the dried broccoli with 200 ml of boiling water in a mug or bag. Ten minutes, then drain off what it did not take up.
- Shake the remaining 2 tbsp soy sauce with the cornstarch, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and sesame oil in a small bottle. Shake again right before it goes in the pan.
- Get the skillet or wok hot over the fire or a wide burner. Add the vegetable oil.
- Drain the steak and pat it dry on a bandana or paper towel. Wet meat steams. Lay it in one layer and leave it alone for a minute, then turn it. Two to three minutes total.
- Add the drained broccoli, pour in the sauce, and stir for a minute until it goes glossy and clings. Kill the heat. Scatter the sesame seeds.
The baking soda is not optional if you are using a cheap cut. It raises the surface pH of the meat and keeps the proteins from seizing into rope over high heat, which is the only way flank steak works in a hot pan. Fifteen minutes is enough; an hour is fine.
The original steams fresh broccoli in the pan with a third of a cup of water. Dried florets do the same job with none of the weight and none of the produce rot, and rehydrating them separately means the pan stays dry enough to actually sear. Drain them well. The cornstarch needs to hit a hot pan with a little liquid, not a puddle, or the sauce never tightens.
Packing
Slice and freeze the steak flat at home; it doubles as a cooler ice block for the first day. Sauce ingredients go in one small leakproof bottle, dry. Broccoli rides in its own bag.
Variations
- Swap the steak for a foil packet of chicken and skip the marinade step entirely.
- Serve over instant rice cooked in the same pot first, then set aside while you cook the meat.
- No cooler: use jerky, soaked in the sauce for twenty minutes, and lose the baking soda.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/beef-broccoli