Venison and Tangerine Skillet
Marinated venison strips, dried mushrooms, and mandarin segments over rice at the truck.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 45 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 40 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
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Venison roast | 2 lb | sliced thin against the grain at home, frozen flat in the marinade |
|---|---|---|
| Ponzu | 1/2 cup | 1/3 for the marinade, the rest for the pan |
| Lime juice | 2 tbsp | bottled is fine |
| Apple cider vinegar | 1 tbsp | |
| Sesame oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Brown sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Garlic cloves | 3 | minced, or 1 tsp granulated |
| Corn starch | 2 tbsp | 1 tbsp to coat the meat, 1 tsp to thicken the sauce |
| Canned mandarin segments | 1 can, drained | fresh tangerines if the cooler has room |
| Dried mushrooms | 1 oz | shiitake or mixed |
| Freeze-dried spinach | 1/2 cup | |
| Grapeseed or peanut oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Instant rice | 2 cups dry |
Method
- Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the mushrooms and spinach in a mug. Let them sit 10 minutes, then squeeze them out and keep the liquid.
- Cook the instant rice in a second pot or the same pot first: 2 cups rice, 2 cups boiling water, lid on, off heat, 5 minutes. Set it aside covered.
- Toss the thawed venison with 1 tbsp corn starch. Get the skillet hot over the fire with the oil in it.
- Sear the meat in two batches, about 2 minutes a side. Crowd it and it steams. Pull each batch out.
- Add the mushrooms and spinach to the pan with a splash of the soaking liquid and cook 2 minutes.
- Stir 1 tsp corn starch into the remaining ponzu, pour it in, and let it bubble down until it coats a spoon.
- Return the meat, fold in the mandarin segments off the heat so they stay whole, and spoon it over the rice.
Venison has almost no fat, so the whole plan is to keep it out of the pan. Thin strips, a hot skillet, two minutes a side, then pull it. The corn starch coat helps a little by giving the surface something to brown before the inside overcooks.
The citrus is doing two jobs. Ponzu and lime in the marinade tenderize and cut the gaminess, and the mandarin segments go in at the end unheated so they stay intact instead of collapsing into the sauce. Canned mandarins travel better than fresh tangerines and drain dry, which matters when your pan is already thin on liquid. Dried mushrooms and freeze-dried spinach replace the fresh produce and their soaking water becomes the sauce base.
Packing
Slice the venison and mix the marinade at home. Freeze the bag flat and it doubles as your cooler ice for the drive in. Mushrooms, spinach, corn starch, and rice go in one dry bag.
Variations
- No cooler: swap in a pouch of freeze-dried beef or a can of roast beef and skip the sear.
- Skip the rice and eat it out of the skillet if you are down to one pot.
https://realtree.com/recipes/timber-2-table/venison-and-tangerine-stir-fry