How to Have a Proper Moose Fry Up

This is a guest post by Candice Walsh of www.FreeCandie.com

My father shot his first moose when he was 12 years old. The first kill has become a sort of “rite of passage” for some young Newfoundlanders, and with the moose population being estimated at about 120,000, that’s about one moose for every four people living in the province. To put it in perspective, Ontario has about one moose for every 121 people.

They’re magnificent creatures, but being an “introduced species” and one without any natural predators, their population has exploded. Car accidents abound, and the situation’s gotten so out of control, that a moose “cull” was proposed in 2011 to cut down on the problem.

Fortunately, they’re also delicious. And when you have 1000-lbs of fatless, perfect meat to work with, there are a whole lot of things you can do with it. Burgers, pasta, stew, roast…you can even go gourmet!

But that’s silly. There’s only one proper way to fry up moose meat, and we’re going to do it rural Newfoundland style.

Ingredients:

Moose (start with 2 lbs or less)

Soya sauce

Salt

Onion Powder

Pork fat or bacon fat

 Shave the meat. When the meat is slightly thawed, slice off thin chunks while cutting against the grain. Pick the least fatty part of the moose.

1. Warm the pan on medium heat. Heat the pan, and add a little pork fat or bacon fat. You only need a little –perhaps 1 tbsp – and it will give the meat a little extra kick. If you’re opting for the healthy choice, oil works almost just as well.
2. Toss in the pieces of meat.
3. Add soya sauce and onion powder. The amount you use is totally up to you, and I just use my superior taste buds to determine the right flavour when adding these ingredients. You do want some gravy to form in the pan, however, so don’t be stingy with the soya sauce.
4. If the gravy is not thickening, add a little bit of flour.
5. When the meat is brown, remove from the stovetop. It’s important that the meat doesn’t get overcooked, as you don’t want it to become tough. The meat will have steak-like quality, but better. Why? Because wild meat is awesome.

Sit the pan down in the middle of the table and enjoy! Use your hands and dive in! No fancy cutlery is welcome here. Add salt for extra artery-clogging love.

Moose photo credit: Man of Mud  Moose Meat photo credit: Candice Walsh

 

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