Easy Venison Stir Fry Recipe

An easy venison stir fry recipe should be in every hunter’s arsenal. It’s fast, simple, delicious, and appeals to even the most hesitant palette when it comes to venison dishes.

But, you don’t want to cut into your supply of venison steaks just for some stir fry. What do you do? You’ll always have leftover cuts then tend to get lumped into the “grind/sausage” pile and thrown into the grinder. But, if you want to skip running it all through the grinder for burger, save some cuts for stir fry. Even the toughest cuts will work, as you cut it so thin and cook so quickly you can’t make it into tough boot leather. but don’t think you have to only use “lesser cuts”. Steaks will work just as great as shoulder trimmings! 

So, how do chinese restaurants get their food tasting so great, and it’s never dried out? Thanks to the expert wisdom of Hank Shaw at Hunter Angler Gardner Cook, you need to utilize a process called “velveting”. Here’s Hank’s explanation on how to pull it off:

Velveting is the process of coating the meat with a delicate layer of ingredients, usually involving some sort of starch, and then stir-frying it.

It’s not so much a batter as it is a gossamer layer of protection for what is typically very lean meat. And those of us who cook wild game a lot know all about very lean meat.

I’ve now velveted everything from rabbit to duck to pheasant to venison, and the trick works on any meat. It is a great way to highlight leg steaks or pheasant thighs, but it’s best with lean, tender meat such as backstraps or breast meat.

There are lots of ways to velvet meat. Some are uber simple: Marinate it in soy, cooking wine and corn starch and proceed to the stir frying. This works pretty well.

A better way, however, is to “pass through” the coated meat in lots of reasonably hot oil. It is the same general idea as double-frying French fries. A quick bath in 275°F oil sets the velvet coating, and helps the meat hold up better under the ferocious heat of a proper stir-fry.

The downside is that you need to use a couple cups of oil. But, you can strain and save the oil for several uses, so it’s not all that bad.

The result will give you that “ah ha!” moment when you realize you have cracked one of the secrets of Chinese cooking. No matter what you include in your easy venison stir fry recipe, if you do this velveting trick you will be overjoyed with the texture of the meat. Give it a go. You’ll see.

Hank Shaw, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

 

EASY VENISON STIR FRY RECIPE

 

INGREDIENTS

Marinade

• 1 Tsp. sesame oil
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• Corn starch slurry – 1 Tbsp. corn starch, 2 Tbsp. water
• 2 Tbsp. cooking wine – I used white cooking wine
• 1 Tsp. salt
• 1 Tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tsp. grated ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Meat and Veggies and such

• 1 C. peanut oil
• 1 lb. venison, trimmed of fat and cut into thin strips – I used pronghorn antelope
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced into sticks
• 2 Tsp. peanut oil, saved from the original 1 C.
• 1/2 Tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. grated ginger root
• 2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce

 

DIRECTIONS

1. MARINADE THE MEAT:  For this easy venison stir fry recipe, start with a marinade. Slice your venison into thin strips. Mix sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper, grated ginger, and minced garlic together and pour over sliced venison. Toss venison strips in the marinade, cover bowl with plastic, and place in the refrigerator for an hour or two.

2. STIR-FRY THE MEAT:  Before you start to cook, make sure you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go. Heat the oil in a wok or large pan. Add the slices of venison in batches so you don’t overload the pan. The key is to give each piece of venison plenty of space to retain the heat in the oil and pan. Let cook for 30 seconds to a minute. Remove the meat and set aside.

3. STIR-FRY THE VEGGIES:  Pour off the oil from the wok, saving 2 Tbsp. for the veggies. Heat the remaining oil as hot as your stove can go, and immediately add the onions once the oil starts to smoke. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, and then add the zucchini. Stir fry an additional 60 seconds, and then add the minced garlic, ginger root, and crushed red pepper flakes. cook another 30 seconds.

4. COMBINE:  Add the venison and any standing juices back into the wok. Add the hoisin sauce, and stir fry together for 1-2 minutes.

5. SERVE IT UP:  You’re done! Serve it with fried rice, noodles, or steamed rice, and enjoy!