Camp Oven Asian Beef with Rice
When we are on the road, Mikey and I have a deal that I do most of the cooking and he does the dishes. Because of this, Mikey’s favourite meals are “one pot wonders” as we like to call them. Technically, some of these dishes may turn out slightly better if you had a few pots on the go at one time, but we would prefer the skip the extra mess and hassle and have always enjoyed our creations.
Camp ovens are well known for slow cooked meals, but don’t be limited to these kinds of meals. My version of Asian Beef has a stack of fresh veggies in it. At times on the road, this is a luxury, due to fridge space, so I save these kinds of meals for when we have rolled into a new town that has a free camp and in return we support the local town by stocking up on supplies.
Camp Oven Asian Beef with Rice.
For the rice you will need:
- Camp oven
- Rice
- Water
- Lid
- Extra water if required
Use the absorption method.
- 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups of water. Add both to the camp oven and put over heat, stirring regularly. Once all the water has been absorbed, taste a grain or two, if it is not quite cooked add very, very small amounts of water till the rice is cooked.
- Once the rice is cooked. Place the camp oven lid upside down close enough to your coal/fire to keep warm, but not cook. Scoop out the rice from the camp oven onto the lid, cover with foil. This will keep warm until you are ready to serve the rest of the meal.
- There will be a small amount of dried rice residue in the camp oven. If this bothers you, it can easily be removed with tongs.
For the beef you will need:
- Thinly sliced beef 100g to 200g per person, lightly dusted in flour.
- Finely chopped garlic, chilli & ginger.
- Sliced: Any veggies you have on hand, in this pic I have used…
– Red onion, Snow peas, Carrots, Broccoli (bite size pieces), Zucchini, Red capsicum or peppers. - Extras: Half a fresh lime, Half a fresh lemon (Roll and slightly squash the lemon/lime on bench before slicing it, this will result in more juice)
- Sesame oil or any cooking oil you have on hand.
- Fish sauce
- Soy sauce
- Cashew nuts (just a handful if you feel like being fancy and have them on hand.)
Method:
- Add sesame oil to the camp oven while it is on coals (a long spoon and positioning of the camp oven will be important here, so it’s not to hot to be able to get in there and stir often). Go easy on the sesame oil as it is a strong flavour.
- Add the beef, stirring occasionally. As soon as the beef starts to brown, add all the veggies, continue to stir occasionally.
- Next, add the chilli, ginger and garlic. If you like strong flavours, or love one of these ingredients in particular, save this step till the end.
- Continue to cook for a few minutes.
- Next add a dash of fish sauce, not much is require. Then add the soy sauce to taste.
- Squeeze the fresh lemon and lime into the camp oven. Stir well and allow to cook for a further two minutes.
- Remove camp oven from coals and serve along with rice.
Hint: Keep a cup of water close by in case you need to deglaze the camp oven a little. Depending on what cut of meat you use, how hot the coals are, how much flour you have used on the beef and what kinds of veggies you use will all impact on the amount of moisture in the dish. You may also prefer your Asian Beef to be more “saucey”, in this case, add a touch of water at the same time as the fresh lemon and lime and allow it to be soaked up and thicken by the flour from the beef.
We enjoy our veggies with quite a bit of crunch. If you prefer them softer, test a piece of broccoli before serving. Of the veggies suggested above, it will take the longest to cook.
