Hawaiian Steak Strips
Beef, peppers, and water chestnuts stewed slow in a dutch oven over coals. Serve it over rice with noodles on top.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 110 min
- total time
- 125 min
- water
- 700 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
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Round steak | 1 1/2 lb | cut into 1/4-inch strips at home |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetable oil | 1/4 cup | |
| Bell pepper | 1 | sliced into strips |
| Onion | 1 medium | sliced |
| Mushrooms | 1/2 lb | sliced |
| Sliced water chestnuts | 1 can | drained |
| Beef gravy | 1 jar | or a dry packet mixed with water |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Instant rice | 3 cups dry | |
| Crunchy chow mein noodles | 1 cup | for the top |
Method
- Build a bed of coals and preheat a 12-inch dutch oven to about 350°F. Coals go under the oven for frying heat.
- Pour in the oil. Add the steak strips, onion, pepper, mushrooms, and salt.
- Stir constantly until the meat is browned on all sides. It sticks if you walk away.
- Drain off the liquid, then stir in the water chestnuts and the gravy.
- Move most of the coals to the lid and leave a few underneath. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring every twenty minutes or so.
- Cook instant rice in a separate pot with boiling water while the beef finishes. Serve the beef over the rice and scatter the noodles on top.
Round steak is a cheap, lean cut that turns to leather over fast heat. The two-hour simmer is not optional — it is the whole point. Cutting it thin across the grain before the trip means it browns quickly and breaks down evenly once the gravy goes in.
Stirring during the brown matters more than it sounds. A dutch oven holds heat unevenly and the strips will weld to the bottom in the first four minutes if left alone. After that the gravy protects them and you can leave it mostly alone. The water chestnuts go in late because they only add crunch, and boiling them for two hours removes the reason they are there. Everything except the steak is shelf-stable; the steak needs a cooler and should be cooked the first night out.
Packing
Slice the steak, pepper, onion, and mushrooms at home and bag them separately. The steak stays in the cooler on ice until it goes in the oven. Water chestnuts, gravy, rice, and noodles ride in the dry box.
Variations
- A dry gravy packet weighs a fraction of the jar and mixes with water in camp.
- Pineapple chunks, drained, go in for the last twenty minutes if you want the Hawaiian part to mean something.
- Swap round steak for stew beef. It is cheaper and the long simmer treats it the same.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/hawaiian_steak_strips-1301.asp