Smoky Braised Turkey Wing Chili
Wild turkey wings braised in beer at home, then packed out into a fast camp chili.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 102
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 600 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
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Braised wild turkey wing meat, dried | 4 oz | picked off the bone before drying |
|---|---|---|
| Instant refried bean flakes | 1 cup | |
| Instant rice | 1 cup | |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | |
| Chili powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground mustard | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1 tsp | |
| Brown sugar | 1 tsp | |
| Cayenne pepper | 1/4 tsp | more if you want it hot |
| Kosher salt and black pepper | 1 tsp total | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Cider or white vinegar | 1 tsp | in a small dropper bottle |
Method
- Pour 600 ml of water into the pot with the dried wing meat. Bring it to a boil and hold it there five minutes so the meat starts taking water back on.
- Cut the heat to a simmer. Stir in the rice, tomato powder, and all the spices. Lid on, five minutes.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the bean flakes a spoonful at a time until it thickens.
- Pour in the oil and the vinegar and stir. Sit ten minutes with the lid on before eating. The meat keeps softening the whole time.
The original is a two-stage kitchen project: beer-braise the wings low and slow to break down the connective tissue, then fry them for crisp skin. Neither stage happens on a stove in the dirt. What does travel is the braise. Cook the wings at home in beer with chili powder, mustard, garlic, onion, brown sugar, salt, and pepper until the meat pulls off the bone, pick it clean, and dry it. The seasoning goes into the meat during the braise, so the dried shreds carry the whole flavor of the pot at a fraction of the weight.
Wing meat is heavy muscle, and dried heavy muscle rehydrates slowly. That is why the meat goes in with cold water and gets a real boil before anything else joins it. The bean flakes at the end do the thickening; skip them and you have a thin soup with rice in it. The vinegar goes in off the heat because a long simmer flattens it.
Packing
Rice, bean flakes, tomato powder, and spices premix into one bag. Dried meat rides in its own bag so it stays dry. Oil and vinegar in dropper bottles.
Variations
- No turkey? Four ounces of dried venison or beef does the same job.
- A packet of hot sauce at the end replaces the vinegar.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/smoked-braised-and-fried-wild-turkey-wings-recipe