BUSH COOKING: Biltong

Biltong is a fantastic snack food to take out in the bush with you that can be prepered at home before you go away. Biltong is a kind of cured meat that originated in South Africa. Many different types of meat are used to produce it, ranging from beef through game meats to fillets of ostrich from commercial farms. It is typically made from raw fillets of meat cut into strips following the grain of the muscle, or flat pieces sliced across the grain. It is similar to beef jerky in that they are both spiced, dried meats, but differ in their typical ingredients, taste and production process. The word biltong is from the Dutch bil ("rump") and tong ("strip" or "tongue")

Kit Required:

Metal meat hooks

Wire frame (coat hanger in a 'U' shape with bottom 'L' bends)

Light (bed side lamp)

Oven Tray

Smaller bowl (for the vinegar)

Small tray or plate

Ingredients:

Beef (Preferably Silverside/London Broili)

Rock Salt

Coarse Ground Black Pepper

Coarse Ground Coriander

Vinegar (preferably Apple-Cider vinegar)

Dried Chopped Chilli (optional)

Pour a good layer of Rock Salt in your oven tray, then lay your meat on top and cover with Rock Salt. Let this sit for 30 minutes to one hour depending how salty you like it. After, fill the small bowl with vinegar and wash off the rock salt with the vinegar, making sure the meat is covered with a coating of vinegar. Place the meat on your tray/plate and add the black pepper and coriander to one side, then turn and coat the other side.You can also add chilli if you like your biltong to have a bit of a kick!

Hang the meat on the hooks, then place the hooks onto the wire frame. Place in-front of your lamp using a 60-100watt bulb. Keep the lamp on 24hrs a day for 3-6 days, depending on how dry you like your biltong. Turn the meat once a day so both sides get dried out evenly. Make sure the meat is close enough to the bulb, otherwise it wont be hot enough. (do not allow it to touch the bulb and burn, as I'm sure you wont be staying around the keep an eye on it for the entire drying process!) If you find the meat has mould forming, simply wash the area with some vinegar, then hang it back up. Do not throw the meat away, it will be fine, so long as you wash it thoroughly with vinegar.

Cut the dried steaks into thin slices and serve, or package to take away with you on your bush trip!

Thanks to Karl82 at BCUK for supplying this version of Biltong.