Venison Phở Stir Fry

By: Adam Berkelmans

What’s better than a big old bowl of steaming phở? The meatiness, the herbaceousness, the spiciness, the slipperiness of rice noodles?

Sometimes though, you don’t really feel like a huge bowl of soup, or maybe you don’t feel like spending hours creating a perfectly balanced phở broth. 

What if I told you that you could have your cake and eat it too?

This noodle stir fry is based on the Vietnamese dish Phở Xao but made with venison. Boasting all of the delicious flavors and textures of phở, this stir fry comes together in much less time and is equally as delicious. 

Southeast Asian herbs like Thai basil and cilantro make this dish even better but can be hard to find. No worries there; just use cilantro and regular basil if you can’t find them where you live. 

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• For the Meat:
• 1lb Venison loin or round, very thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• For the Sauce:
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sriracha
• 1 teaspoon hoisin sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• For the Stir Fry:
• 8oz rice noodles
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 whole star anise (optional)

• 1 white/brown onion, thinly sliced
• 2 big handfuls of beansprouts
• 1 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves, picked
• 1/2 cup chopped culantro (optional)
• 1 chili, sliced
• 1 lime

Preparation:

• Cook rice noodles according to package directions until al dente, then run under cold water and drain. Store in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.
• Mix the marinade ingredients together and toss with meat. Marinate for 20 minutes. 
• Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. 
• Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over low heat. Add the star anise if using and cook for 10 minutes, tossing them around every few minutes. Discard the anise.
• Increase heat to high and add the onion to the oil. Cook stirring for 1 minute. 
• Add the marinated meat and toss with the onions, cooking for 1-2 minutes or until the venison is barely cooked through. Then add the bean sprouts and cook for 1 minute. Add the noodles and the sauce, tossing everything together. 
• Add the cilantro and the chilies. Cook, stirring constantly, until the noodles have absorbed the sauce, then take off the heat. Add the basil and culantro if using, tossing them into the noodles. Serve with lime wedges, sriracha, and hoisin sauce. Enjoy!

Get Cooking:

As always, Good luck this spring and remember to send any success pictures or stories from the field to [email protected] and you could be featured on our website or in our magazine. If this article or any of our articles have helped you become a better hunter or conservation steward, consider becoming a member of the Mule Deer Foundation or the Blacktail Deer Foundation or both. Click here to join: https://muledeer.org/product-category/membership/ or https://www.blacktaildeer.org/

Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real and wild food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.