Sesame Chicken Meatballs, Trail Version
Freeze-dried chicken and panko rehydrated into meatballs, then glazed in a soy-honey sauce made in the same pot.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 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
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried shredded chicken | 3 oz | the fine shred rehydrates and binds; chunks will not |
|---|---|---|
| Panko breadcrumbs | 3/4 cup | |
| Powdered egg | 2 tbsp | plus 2 tbsp water |
| Soy sauce | 3 tbsp total | 1 tbsp in the meatballs, 2 in the sauce; tamari if gluten matters |
| Dried green onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Ground ginger | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Toasted sesame oil | 2 tsp total | 1 tsp in the mix, 1 tsp in the sauce |
| Canola oil | 2 tbsp | 1 tbsp in the mix, 1 tbsp for the pan |
| Cornstarch | 2 tsp | |
| Honey | 2 tbsp | packets or a small squeeze tube |
| Rice vinegar | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Sriracha | 1 tsp | packets; leave it out for a mild version |
Method
- Pour 200 ml of boiling water over the freeze-dried chicken in your pot. Cover and wait ten minutes, until it is soft all the way through and there is no free water left.
- Add the panko, the reconstituted egg powder, 1 tbsp soy sauce, green onion, ginger, garlic, pepper, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 1 tbsp canola oil. Mix hard with a spoon, then squeeze it together with your hands until it holds.
- Roll about twelve balls, tight. Loose ones fall apart in the pan.
- Wipe the pot, set it back on a low flame with 1 tbsp canola oil, and brown the meatballs in two batches, turning every couple of minutes. Eight to ten minutes a batch. Move them to a lid or a bowl.
- Off the heat, stir the cornstarch into 2 tbsp soy sauce in the pot until there are no lumps. Add the honey, vinegar, sriracha, remaining sesame oil, and 100 ml water.
- Back on low, stir constantly for two or three minutes until it thickens and coats the spoon. Return the meatballs and roll them around in it.
The original is a home recipe with an oven, ground meat, and a fridge. None of that travels. Freeze-dried shredded chicken rehydrated to just-damp does the same structural job as raw ground chicken: it gives the panko something to grab. Get the water ratio right and the mixture binds. Too much water and you have a paste that will not hold a ball.
The sauce is worth the second step. Cornstarch whisked into cold soy sauce before heat is the whole trick — dump it into a hot pot and you get lumps you cannot fix. Honey and vinegar balance the salt, and the sauce reduces fast enough that you are not burning fuel waiting on it. Everything happens in one pot, in order, with a wipe in between.
Packing
Panko, egg powder, green onion, ginger, garlic, and pepper premix into one bag. Chicken in its own bag. Oils and vinegar in dropper bottles, honey and sriracha in packets, cornstarch in a film canister.
Variations
- Serve over instant rice cooked first and set aside in a bag while you use the pot.
- No pan-frying: simmer the balls in the sauce with an extra 100 ml water, lid on, ten minutes.
- Freeze-dried ground turkey works the same way.
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/asian-chicken-meatballs