On my recent Adventure Getaway, I was gifted a whole bunch of wild meat, not to mention that we harvested some lovely wild hogs. So I have been cooking up a storm, and one delicious recipe I made here recently was Sika Stew with Spring Vegetables. Of course you could use any kind of venison, or even beef, elk, bison or your other favorite stew meat, but I noticed that there weren’t many Sika deer recipes on the internet so I am featuring it here, it’s quite tasty and deserves a little spotlight. Have you made Sika before? Tell me in the comments. And be sure to check out my wild game videos in my new YouTube series.
Sika Stew with Spring Vegetables:
I decided to feature spring with this menu, because it is on my mind, and used green onions and a medley of flavorful wild mushrooms. Other things that would be delightful include: radishes, ramps, wild garlic and pickled versions of all of these things as a garnish.
This is a nice thing to start early in the day and let simmer for several hours while you go about your life. It takes about 3 hours for the meat to break down and become tender. You could also consider adding some dried porcini mushrooms which will fortify the flavor of the broth.
Have you ever made Sika before? What is your favorite kind of deer meat? What is your favorite kind of meat overall? I think Axis deer is my favorite venison but perhaps lamb is my favorite non-wild game. As you can tell I like my meat to have real flavor.
Check out the recipe below and be sure to come back and tell me what you think in the comments section below. You can also tag me on Instagram, and be sure to follow me on Facebook and YouTube!
Sika Stew with Spring Vegetables
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons grape seed or sunflower oil
- 3 lb cubed sika venison
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cups sliced shiitake morel, or other flavorful mixed mushrooms
- 6 crushed garlic cloves
- 1 onion diced
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 5 thyme sprigs
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 cups stock
- 1 bunch green onions or spring onions both green and white cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 bulb fennel sliced
- 1 bunch dandelion greens roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a heavy bottomed pot, over high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Season the meat cubes with salt and pepper. Brown the cubes in batches on all sides, transferring to a plate before adding new meat so that you don’t overcrowd the pot and steam the meat.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the pot and brown the shiitakes, garlic and onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to release the juices. Deglaze with the apple cider vinegar.
- Add the meat back to the pot and add the thyme, bay leaves and stock. Cover and transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, add the green onions and fennel and stir in. Return to over and cook for about another hour or until the venison is tender. In the last 15 minutes, stir in the dandelion greens until wilted and tender. Serve!
