As the fall season quickly approaches its time to start thinking about meal prep for your backcountry hunts. If you have any wild game meat left in the freezer from last year, now is the time to pull it out and make some of your own meals to power you in the mountains this fall.

Similar to last years' Backcountry Venison Stroganoff, this recipe uses wild game as the primary protein and is a nice change from your standard freeze-dried meal. The fresh ginger and dried pineapple are the stars in this fried rice and the ground teriyaki jerky recipe is good enough to stand on its own as a hunting snack during the day.

The jerky for this recipe is made in the oven but would be even more exceptional if smoked or cooked on a Traeger. All the dried ingredients below can be ordered online.

To keep things simple when backpacking, use individual packages of soy sauce from your last Chinese take out or sushi order. The individual Sriracha hot sauce packages can also be found at restaurants or online and make for a great condiment on any freeze dried meal.

Jerky

• 1¾ Lbs, Ground venison
• 1½ Tsp, Salt
• 1½ Tsp, Onion powder
• 2½ Tsp, Garlic powder
• 2½ Tsp, Ginger powder
• 3 Fl oz, Soy sauce
• 1 Cup, Pineapple juice, reduced to 2 fl oz
• 1 Tbsp, Sambal Olek chili paste
• 2 Tsp, Liquid Smoke
• 4 Tsp, Worcestershire sauce

Rice Pack

• 1 Package, Instant rice
• 1 Thumb, Fresh ginger, unpeeled
• ¼ Cup, Freeze-dried diced onions
• 1 Cup, Freeze-dried brocoli
• ¼ Cup, Dried peas
• ⅓ Cup, Dried diced pineapple
• 2 Tsp, Chicken stock powder
• 2 Tbsp, Soy sauce in packets
• 2 Packs, Sriracha chili sauce

Jerky

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until fully incorporated.
2. Refrigerate the seasoned ground venison for 3 hours.
3. Roll the seasoned ground venison between parchment paper into a ¼” thick sheet of ground. Alternatively, extrude the ground jerky mix through a jerky gun.
4. Score the jerky sheet with the back of a knife and transfer to a wire roasting rack.
5. Cook the jerky in a 175℉ oven with low fan for 2-3 hours or until the jerky is dark brown and dry but still pliable.
6. Allow the jerky to cool and break into snack sized pieces.
7. Store the jerky in an airtight sealable bag until you need a snack on the trail.

Cooking

1. Peel the ginger and scrape approximately 1 Tbsp of ginger into a backpacking pot.
2. Add the instant rice, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, ½ cup water and as many bite sized pieces of jerky you want in your meal.
3. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook off the water, approximately 2-3 minutes.
4. Transfer the hot rice mixture to a separate bowl.
5. Mix the dried vegetables and ¼ cup water in the pot and cook off the liquid, approximately 2-3 minutes.
6. Combine the rice and vegetable mixtures, finish with sriracha hot sauce and enjoy.