Hotplate Pork & Noodle Stir-Fry: The 15-Minute Camp Stove Dinner

Hotplate Pork & Noodle Stir-Fry: The 15-Minute Camp Stove Dinner The fastest way to turn a cold winter camp into a warm one is a wok full of noodles on a gas burner. There are camp dinners that take planning and there are camp dinners that take fifteen minutes. When the light fades early in August and the wind has a bite to it, you want the second kind. This pork and noodle stir-fry is the camp stove at its best: one pan, one burner, everything thrown in fast and eaten faster. It earns its spot in the camp menu because it is forgiving. If the pork is a little overdone, the sauce hides it. If you only have one capsicum instead of two, nobody notices. The noodles soak up the sauce and turn a simple stir-fry into something that sticks to the ribs on a cold night. And it all cooks in the time it takes the water to boil on a single burner. Ingredients Serves 4 - 500 g pork fillet, sliced into thin strips - 2 packets (about 700 g) fresh hokkien noodles (the ones in the fridge section) - 1 red capsicum, sliced into thin strips - 1 green capsicum, sliced into thin strips - 1 brown onion, sliced - 3 garlic cloves, crushed - 1 tbsp grated ginger - 2 tbsp soy sauce - 2 tbsp oyster sauce - 1 tsp sesame oil - 1 tbsp vegetable oil - 1/2 cup (125 ml) water - 3 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal, to serve Gear - Wok or large hotplate pan with a lid (or a sheet of foil to cover) - Portable gas camp stove (single burner is fine) - Long-handled spatula or tongs - Small bowl for the sauce mix - Sharp knife and cutting board How to make it Prep everything first. Stir-fry moves fast once the heat is on, so have the pork sliced, the capsicum and onion cut, and the garlic and ginger crushed before you light the burner. Mix the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and water in a small bowl. Get the wok screaming hot. Light the burner on high and let the wok heat for a couple of minutes until a drop of water dances and evaporates instantly. Add the vegetable oil and swirl it around. Sear the pork. Add the pork strips in a single layer and leave them for a minute without touching — this is what gives them colour. Toss and cook for another 2–3 minutes until the pork is just cooked through. Scoop it out onto a plate and set aside. Cook the aromatics. Add the onion, garlic and ginger to the hot wok and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Don't let the garlic burn. Add the capsicum. Throw in the capsicum strips and stir-fry for 2 minutes, keeping everything moving. The capsicum should keep a bit of crunch. In with the noodles. Add the hokkien noodles and the sauce mix. Toss everything together with the spatula, separating the noodles as you go so they soak up the sauce. Return the pork. Put the pork back in the wok, toss everything together and let it bubble for 2–3 minutes until the sauce thickens and coats the noodles. Steam finish (optional). If the noodles look dry, splash in a little extra water, pop the lid on for a minute and let the steam soften everything. Serve. Scatter the spring onions over the top and serve straight from the wok. No plates needed if you are eating out of enamel bowls around the fire. Camp tips - Prep at home: Slice the pork and veg at home and bag them separately — the pork in one bag, the capsicum and onion in another. It saves the cutting board and knife at camp entirely. - Fridge life: Hokkien noodles keep for days in the esky and are the perfect back-pocket dinner for a rainy night when nobody wants to cook properly. - Swap the protein: Thinly sliced chicken thigh, beef strips or prawns all work with the same sauce. Prawns cook even faster, so add them last. - Heat levels: Gas burners on camp stoves run hot — if the wok starts smoking, lift it off the burner for a few seconds rather than turning it down slowly. - Leftovers: Reheat the leftovers in the wok with a splash of water the next morning and put a fried egg on top. Breakfast sorted. The closer A single-burner stir-fry like this is what a camp gas stove is made for, but it needs reliable power to keep the fridge cold and the esky sorted while you travel. If you are running a 12V fridge or building out your van's power setup, the Outcamp 12V Accessories Collection has the chargers, cables and sockets to keep everything humming between towns. What's your go-to one-pan camp dinner? Drop it in the comments below.