Crispy Turkey Citrus Skillet
Fried wild turkey, snap peas, and tangerine in a sticky orange-soy glaze. A turkey camp dinner cooked over fire.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- 30 ml cold
- 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Wild turkey breast | 1 side, cut into bite-sized pieces | one half of the breast off a spring bird |
|---|---|---|
| Seasoned flour or chicken fry mix | 2 cups | |
| Frying oil | enough for 2 inches in the pan | |
| Snap peas | 3 cups | |
| Red onion | 1, slivered | |
| Tangerines | 3, peeled and segmented | |
| Garlic | 4 cloves, minced | |
| Frozen orange juice concentrate | 6 oz can | packs in the cooler and thaws on the drive |
| Soy sauce | 1/3 cup | |
| Brown sugar | 1/3 cup | |
| Peach whiskey | 1/4 cup | Crown Royal Peach is what the original called for |
| Sesame oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Chinese five spice powder | 1 tsp | |
| Red pepper flakes | 1 tsp | |
| Corn starch | 1 tbsp, dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want steady heat, not flames licking a pan of oil.
- Sauce first, in a small pot on the grate: orange juice concentrate, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, five spice, pepper flakes, and whiskey. Bring it to a low boil, stir it smooth, then pull it to the edge of the fire to hold at a simmer.
- Heat two inches of oil in a cast iron skillet or wok until a pinch of the fry mix sizzles hard. Toss the turkey pieces in the seasoned flour and fry in batches until the crust is brown and set, about 4 minutes a batch. Drain on a paper bag.
- Pour off all but a spoonful of the oil. Get the pan back over the coals and stir-fry the onion and snap peas for two minutes, then the garlic for thirty seconds.
- Stir the corn starch slurry into the simmering sauce and let it thicken.
- Return the turkey to the pan, pour the sauce over, and toss. Fold in the tangerine segments last so they stay whole. Serve straight out of the pan.
This is a fire-cooked stir fry, so the order matters more than the technique. The sauce gets made first and held warm, because once the oil is hot you will not have a free hand or a free burner. Everything after that happens in one skillet in about six minutes.
The frying gives the turkey a crust that survives being sauced, which is the whole point — wild turkey breast is lean and goes dry fast, and a coating buys you a margin. The juice concentrate is doing two jobs: it is the sauce base and it rides down as a frozen block in the cooler. Tangerines go in off the heat so they hold their shape instead of collapsing into the glaze. This one needs a cooler and real dishwater, so it is a car camp or turkey camp meal, not a backpacking one.
Packing
Cube the turkey and mix the dry sauce spices at home. The juice concentrate goes in the cooler frozen and does double duty as an ice block. Carry the oil in a sealed bottle and plan where you will dump it before you pour it.
Variations
- Domestic turkey breast or chicken thigh works the same and does not require a tag.
- Skip the deep fry: dust the meat lightly and pan-sear it in a few tablespoons of oil. Less crust, far less oil to haul out.
- Serve over instant rice if you want it to stretch further.
https://realtree.com/recipe/timber-2-table/crispy-citrus-wild-turkey-stir-fry