Venison Sosaties - Jan Braai

Venison Sosaties (served with paprika tomatoes)

This is a great way to braai your venison, a very lean meat. I suggest using the fillet of a larger animal, so more kudu than springbok. Cut the meat into small blocks, rather too small than too big. The marinade adds some bite, sweet and sour, and the long marinating time not only imparts these flavours into the meat but also tenderises it. Before the braai, you skewer the meat with dried fruit and bacon. All this contributes to a truly great sosatie. This recipe comes from Limpopo, which makes sense, as there are a lot of game farms and consequently venison in that area. Don’t overbraai the meat – yes, it has a lot of supporting actors, but the most important factor to ensure juicy meat is to not dry it out on the fire.

WHAT YOU NEED

(Makes 16 sosaties)

For the Marinade

1 onion
1 tot olive oil
1 tot medium-strength curry powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup brown vinegar
1 cup smooth apricot jam
1 cup chutney
8 allspice berries
4 whole cloves
½ tot salt

For Assembling the Sosaties

1.5 kg venison fillet (kudu, gemsbok, etc)
1 pack bacon (200 g)
250 g dried peaches
250 g dried apricots
16 skewers

WHAT TO DO

Prepare the marinade: Chop the onion. Fry the onion in oil for a few minutes in a potjie (on the fire) or pot (on the stove) and then add all the other marinade ingredients. Stir well, bring to the boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Take the marinade off the fire or stove and let it cool down completely.
Cut the meat into blocks that you will use to make sosaties, rather too small than too big makes for a nicer eating experience. The volume of an eight-dot Lego block is a good reference.
Place the cold marinade in a marinating bowl, then add the blocks of meat to it. Cover and let it marinate in the fridge for 2 or 3 days. Toss the meat every 8–12 hours to ensure all sides of the meat get proper exposure to the marinade.
Cut the bacon into blocks the same size as your meat blocks. Assemble the sosaties by skewering chunks of meat with pieces of bacon, dried peaches and dried apricots.
Braai the sosaties for about 12 minutes on medium-hot coals, with your grid relatively high. The sugar in the marinade as well as the sugar in the peaches and apricots can burn quickly, that is why we braai it at a more relaxed pace.