Anime Foodies: Basic Cooking Equipment for Camping
This post relates to our Anime Foodies panels on “Laid-Back Camp” and “Laid-Back Camp Season 2”.
The goal of this post is to go over the basic equipment you’ll want to have for cooking while you’re out camping. This is not meant to tell you all of what you���ll need for camping itself nor is it intended to be entirely exhaustive as to what you’ll need for cooking when camping.
Cooler:
A decent camping cooler is a must for keeping your food chilled throughout any camping trip.
These days, you can get coolers for under $100 that will keep your food chilled for 72 hours without much trouble. This is perfect for most weekend camping excursions. Certain varieties – such as Yeti – can keep things chilled for longer periods, but do come with higher costs as a result.
The size of your cooler will be dependent on how many folks you’re going camping with, but, for example, a 25 quart cooler has plenty of room for holding all the food you’ll need for two people for a weekend.
To go along with your cooler, do remember that you’ll need something to keep is chilled with. If you don’t have cold freezer packs, bagged ice from any grocery store/gas station will do just fine. Do remember that, if you just use ice, you may need to drain the cooler at times and make sure nothing is soaking in water at the bottom of the cooler towards the end of your trip.
Camping Stove:
A camping stove is going to be your go to item for cooking almost everything when you’re out at the campsite.
These come in a lot of varieties with small, individual stoves in a single piece with a single burner all the way to large varieties that can have four burners. The standard type – and one we use for all of our camping cooking – is a dual burner stove as you see here.
Coleman is an extremely good brand for cooking stoves in our experience. We have two which have been in good working order for decades.
To go along with your stove, don’t skimp on your cans of propane. They are pretty cheap and do last a while, but you’ll be in a world of hurt if you run out of fuel while using your stove.
Portable Grill:
In “Laid-Back Camp” and “Laid-Back Camp Season 2”, Rin has a little grill used on occasion when grilling is needed on site. If you’re in most campgrounds in the U.S., there is somewhere on site that’ll have grills for you to use. If you happen to not have access to one of these, however, you’ll want a portable grill.
There are a ton of portable charcoal grills on the U.S. market with some of them being little varieties that fold up – like Rin’s in the show – to ones as big as standard backyard grills. Whichever variety you end up with, do remember to be careful where you’re using it so you don’t torch a table or something silly like that.
Dutch Oven/Donabe:
Given that a lot of the dishes made in the Laid-Back Camp franchise are either hotpots or are otherwise designed to serve large amounts of people, a bigger cooking vessel with a tight-fitting lid such as a Dutch oven or donabe are essential.
Dutch ovens are the easiest option for us stateside as they are basic indoor cooking equipment, suitable to many tasks in the kitchen. Getting one with insulated handles is always a plus though do keep in mind that cooking over a camping stove can result in heat coming up the sides and onto the handles, so they may get hot regardless.
Donabe are Japanese earthenware pots specifically designed to use over open flames. They are often used for nabe, but are useful for about everything a Dutch oven is though often having a slightly smaller internal volume for similarly sized pieces. These are great if you’re looking for a more authentic experience and are willing to shell out the higher price that’ll be required for one.
Skillet/Sauté Pan:
A good skillet is a constant companion when cooking as it’s great for camping classics like grilled cheese, but also some specific recipes seen in the Laid-Back Camp franchise (such as the stellar Grilled Steamed Buns from the show’s first season).
If you’ll be making food for one or two, a six or eight inch variety is probably sufficient, but a ten inch pan or bigger will definitely be needed for some of the recipes designed for larger groups of people.
Saucepan:
A saucepan is invaluable if you’ll be doing anything Japanese while out cooking as it’s the easiest device with which to make rice with. It’s also just a general camping standard for making individual or smaller serving sizes for soups and other cold weather staples.
A larger-sized one with an insulated handle is best for the sake of convenience if you have the room, but you can get away with smaller ones if it’ll just for one or two people. Also make sure you always get one with a tight-fitting lid.
Knife:
For a knife while out camping, we’d recommend something multi-purpose such as a sturdy hunting or camping knife which can both cut food as necessary, but also do other tasks you might come across while out camping. Certain styles are also convenient in that they fold away for easy storage and access when outdoors.
If all else fails, however, any properly sharp kitchen knife will do the trick on most of the recipes from this franchise.
Cutting Board:
With the need for a knife comes the need for a cutting board. There are two styles best suited to camping. The first and better of the two are thin ones that are stiff and have some manner of sticking surface on the bottom which can slip into crevices for easy packing while also taking up minimal room. The second are the extremely ones that are flexible and can roll up. These can save even more room though they lack the convenient bottom surface to keep the cutting board from moving around when in use.
Measuring Cups/Spoons:
If you’ll be making anything that requires any manner of finesse, a basic set of measuring cups/spoons will be great. There are collapsible versions you can get these days that are wonderful for camping as they take up significantly less room than standard models.
Cooking/Eating Utensils:
A set of basic cooking utensils will be essential to making most dishes while out camping. What you should look to have are things like a spatula, tongs, ladle, and some kind of large cooking spoon or paddle to use for most of your stirring in a pot or pan.
A set of your standard eating utensils – spoon, fork, and knife – should get you through almost any camping meal. Taking plastic silverware camping is a really great way to both minimize cleaning, but also use any excess plastic cutlery lying around from takeout and such.
Paper Plates/Bowls/Cups:
This is more a matter of preference, but if you’d like to save yourself on some dishes, you can never go wrong with a sizeable stack of sturdy paper plates, bowls, and cups as needed.
If you’re worried about the potential for creating additional waste, we’d recommend doing what we do and save your leftover paper products to use as kindling for the next day’s fire. Keep in mind that you’ll never want to leave trash out that’ll attract wild animals, so you’d need to find a place to store things like this.
Plenty of Water:
You’ll never be guaranteed to have access to potable water when out camping, even if it’s a properly built-up site in close proximity to civilization. As a result, you want to always bring a large amount of basic filtered water to use for cooking. One to five gallon containers of water are available at most grocery or convenient stores for relatively little cost. What’s nice is these can be kept and filled with non-potable water when it’s time to squelch the campfire before bed.
If you’ll be making Japanese-style rice, remember that it requires a lot of rinsing, so you’re looking at nearly a gallon of water needed for that alone (somewhat dependent on the batch you’ve acquired, but it’ll be quite a lot).
One Room, Hiatari Futsuu, Tenshi-tsuki. (Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included)
Ookami to Koushinryou (Spice and Wolf)
Re:Monster
Sasayaku You ni Koi wo Utau (Whisper Me a Love Song)
Seiyuu Radio no Uraomote (The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio)
Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid 3rd Season (The Duke of Death and His Maid Season 3)
Tensei Kizoku, Kantei Skill de Nariagaru (As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World)
Tensei shitara Dainana Ouji Datta node, Kimama ni Majutsu wo Kiwamemasu (I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability)
The New Gate
Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu 2nd Season (Tsukimichi -Moonlit Fantasy- Season 2)
Yoru no Kurage wa Oyogenai (Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night)
Unnamed Memory
Urusei Yatsura 2nd Season
Yozakura-san Chi no Daisakusen (Mission: Yozakura Family)
Yurucamp Season 3 (Laid-Back Camp Season 3)
Anime previews I may not post because the previews are available only after the episode is available (usually because it is available on streaming platform ahead of TV broadcast):
Dekisokonai to Yobareta Motoeiyuu wa Jikka kara Tsuihou sareta node Sukikatte ni Ikiru Koto ni Shita (The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases)
Maou no Ore ga Dorei Elf wo Yome ni Shitanda ga, Dou Medereba Ii? (An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride)
One Room, Hiatari Futsuu, Tenshi-tsuki. (Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included)
Anime previews I will not post, but might post contents of it (e.g. artwork from magazine):
Date A Live V
Highspeed Etoile
Shuumatsu Train Doko e Iku? (Train to the End of the World)
biggest problem i have with yurucamp is that they wildly overestimate how fast hair grows. sakuras hair went from shoulder length to ass length in the span of like. 2 years. girl it doesnt do that.
^ this is a (sort of) redraw of something i drew back in like,,,, 2021?? i think, it was pandora at the beach :) its not the best ( i havent drawn pandora in like fuckin,,,, 2 months now so i feel like she looks a bit off lol)
3. Least favourite things to draw?
front facing faces and side profiles, front facing a little bit more. I really need to work on drawing faces from different angles augughahgh
Today's AniAnimals are these two dogs from 'Yurucamp'. Rin meets these friendly dogs with during a solo camping trip.
今日のアニアニマルは『ゆるキャン△』のこの2匹です。リンはソロキャンプ旅行中にこれらのフレンドリーな犬に会います.
We bring you this recipe from our panel, “Anime Foodies: Laid-Back Camp Season 2”.
This layer cake made out of Japanese-style hotcakes serves as the dessert for Aoi and Nadeshiko’s birthday celebration on the second evening of the Izu camping trip in Episode 12. While it serves as a brilliant solution to making a cake without an oven, the need to whip eggs and cream by hand do make this probably the most physically taxing of any “Laid-Back Camp” recipe to date.
6 – Eggs
12 TBSP – Sugar
6 TBSP – Whole Milk
1 1/2 TSP – Vanilla Extract
9 TBSP – Cake Flour (AP Flour)
1 1/2 TSP – Baking Powder
2 Cups – Heavy Whipping Cream
1 – Mango
1 – Kiwi
1/3 Cup – Round Grapes
1 Cup – Strawberries
2 In. x 1 In. Square – Milk Chocolate [Optional]
1 Pack – Cookie Frosting [Optional]
Separate your eggs with the 6 egg whites being set aside for the meringue, 3 yolks being set aside for the yolk mixture, and the other 3 yolks stored in the fridge/cooler for use in another recipe.
Mix the 3 egg yolks and 6 TBSP of sugar until combined and frothy.
Add the milk and vanilla extract and stir together.
Add the flour and baking powder together, stir, and incorporate into the yolk mixture until there are no visible lumps while trying to stir as little as possible.
In as large and as wide of a bowl as is available, whip the egg whites with a whisk until frothy and then add 4 TBSP of sugar in batches until a meringue is formed with medium peaks.
Take roughly 1/3 of the meringue and mix into the yolk mixture to lighten it.
Fold the remaining meringue into the yolk mixture in two or three batches being careful not to knock out too much air.
Heat an 8 or 10-inch non-stick pan over low heat, spray with some oil, and add 3/4 cup of the hotcake batter in an even layer.
Cover and cook for 3 minutes.
Remove the lid, add another 1/2 cup of batter evenly across the top of the already cooking hotcake, cover, and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
To flip the hotcake, slide it out of the pan, cooked side down onto a large paper plate, put the pan over the top, and quickly upend the plate back down into the pan.
Use your spatula to fix any uneven edges from the flip and then cover and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Once finished, remove the hotcake and set on a plate under a damp paper towel.
Repeat Steps 8 through 13 to create a second large hotcake.
Again, using the largest and widest bowl you have available, whip the heavy cream until slightly thickened, add the final 2 TBSP of sugar, and continue whipping until you have stiff peaks.
Take your mango and cut both thin slices and larger chunks for the top of the cake.
Skin the kiwi and cut into thin slices.
Slice your largest strawberries for the middle of the cake and leave your smallest ones whole for the topping.
Take your square of chocolate and write whatever you want as a message for the top of the cake with the cookie frosting before setting it in the fridge/cooler until ready to place on the cake. [Optional]
To build the cake, set one of the hotcakes on a plate and top with a layer of the whipped cream and the thin-sliced mango, kiwi, and strawberries while leaving some room on the edge of the whipped cream layer.
Add the second cake and another layer of whipped cream on top.
Add some whipped cream to a small resealable plastic and cut off the corner. Use this bag of cream to pipe a border of whipped cream around the top edge of the cake.
Take some of the remaining thin slices of fruit and alternate them in the edge of the layer of cream between the two hotcakes.
Place the whole grapes, whole strawberries, mango chunks, and kiwi slices inside the thicker whipped cream border on the top of the cake and finish with the chocolate message if made.
Slice carefully with a serrated cake knife to serve or merely consume directly from the plate.
Optional/Notes:
This recipe isn’t as exacting as some of the others, so there is a not insignificant chance that there will be additional hotcake batter and fruit leftover. Use any extra batter immediately and store the additional hotcakes in the cooler.
We used the exact fruits the girls used for the sake of the panel, but feel free to use a mix of whatever fruits are in season.
If you’ll be doing the chocolate plaque, a basic chocolate bar from the grocery store is a great way to get a flat chocolate surface to work with.
The additional egg yolks will last for 2-3 days in the fridge.
For whipping the egg whites and the cream, hand power will be the default method when outside, but you can find battery-powered/crank hand mixers which can significantly lighten the workload.
When building the cake, make sure to use whatever of your two cakes is the most perfect and stable for the base to diminish the chances of the cake falling over.
Feel free to use a real piping bag, but the plastic bag method will definitely reduce the need for cleaning.
I watched all of YuruCamp with a friend the past 2 weeks and I really loved it! I like both Rin and Sakura's need to make sure Nadeshiko was okay on her first solo camp. The movie is also incredibly cute and I love that it showed them all being adults and living their own lives! I gave drawing Sakura my best effort and while it has some things I would probably touch up, I'm happy with it.
i did one of these a few .... days? weeks? ago but i will of course do another! the answers may have changed after all
3 ships: didnt mention this one last time but one of my top ships of all time is a college-age pairing of shimarin yurucamp and nadeshiko's older sister. i think theyre fucking adorable together. uhh 2 other ships.... pieberry witchspringR x the girl knight whose name i forget, and.... ryne/gaia ffxiv
First ship: this one hasnt changed its still lyra/bonbon mlp
Last song: Magia - kalafina (pmmm ed)
Last movie: i havent watched a movie since the last time i did this so..... i dont remmember if it was glass onion or the nasuverse movie about the girl who can see the future
Currently watching: Right Now im rewatching Line Goes Up. as for like shows im passively watching, Endro! (sic). a show about a party of girls who tried to defeat the demon lord but instead activated time magic and reverted the world to their first day of adventuring school, and only the demon lord remembers (now a little girl, and their teacher, for Some Reason).
Currently consuming: Monster Energy Ultra Fiesta Mango
Currently craving: i would really love to Not Be At Work
will not be tagging anyone specifically bc i have to get back to work but if you see this you are legally obligated to do it! <3