Friday, January 22, 2010

Kangaroo Salad with Asian flavours - hop to it



While kangaroos are a wild animal in Australia, they are a protected species and can only be harvested under licence.  Kangaroo meat has been legalised for human consumption in Australian States since 1993, and the meat is exported to countries such as Germany, France and England.

Roo meat is also readily available in Australian supermarkets, though it isn't considered a popular meat compared to, say, beef.  It is high in protein and low in fat, however, so consumption is becoming more widespread.  It has quite an intense flavour (gamey) that may take some getting used to, although you can substitute beef for kangaroo in most recipes.

Which is where this dish comes in.  The recipe is from Jill Dupleix in delicious magazine (Feb 2010).  It's a colourful and aromatic melding of Asian-inspired flavours while using kangaroo fillet as the base.  The original recipe emphasises the Thai flavours by using mint, basil and coriander in the salad, but personally, I prefer less 'herb-y' flavours, so used normal spinach and rocket leaves instead.

Thai Kangaroo Salad with crisp-fried garlic
serves 4

Ingredients
600g kangaroo fillets, trimmed
1 tblsp soy sauce
1 tblsp seseame oil
2 tblsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 eschalots, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, thinly sliced on an angle
70g salad greens (eg. spinach and rocket) OR
1/2 cup basil, mint and coriander

Dressing
2 tblsp lime juice
2 tblsp fish sauce
1 tblsp olive oil
2 tsp caster sugar

Method
1. Combine kangaroo, soy sauce and sesame oil in a bowl and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes to marinate.
2.  Heat olive oil in a frypan over medium heat. Cook garlic for 1 minute each side or until light golden. Remove and drain on paper towel.
3.  Return frypan to high heat.  Drain excess marinade and juice from the kangaroo before searing meat for 2-3 minutes on each side (medium-rare).  Transfer to a plate and loosely cover with foil and rest for 15 minutes.
4.  For the dressing, whisk the dressing ingredients together in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
5.  Place tomatoes, eschalot, spring onions and salad greens in a bowl.  Thinly slice the rested kangaroo and add to the bowl.  Sprinkle with the fried garlic.
6.  Serve with dressing on the side.

Recipe adapted from delicious (February 2010)


The marinating of the kangaroo meat (in soy sauce and sesame oil) really improves the flavour of the meat. Make sure you do not overcook the meat - the low fat content means it can dry out easily.


Serve the salad with the dressing to drizzle over.  The crispy fried garlic is a pungent but moreish accompaniment.

16 comments:

  1. Unlike my partner I really like kangaroo. I dont mind the gameyness at all. This recipe looks great, I might have to pick up a copy of delicious this week!

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  2. Looks delish! I haven't had kangaroo for a few years now. Thanks for the inspiration

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  3. What a PERFECT recipe for next Tuesday! Fantastic!

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  4. I have to say I've had mixed results when it comes to cooking/eating kangaroo, but having it seared Asian style definitely works! I sometimes have it stir fried with chinese cabbage and black bean. This looks great, I can definitely see it working with that dressing!

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  5. Looks lovely. I usually serve kangaroo with a beetroot puree/mash but have never tried it as an Asian-style salad. Perfect summer food.

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  6. The fried garlic sounds terribly moreish! Beautifully colourful salad too.

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  7. I think searing kangaroo meat over a high heat and eating it like how you've cooked it is perfect! You're right that its so lean - that this is probably the best way to celebrate its flavour!

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  8. Great dish. I love kangaroo - healthy, tasty, and much more ecologically sound than most other red meats!

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  9. Beautiful colours and presentation! And just in time for Australia Day :)

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  10. I haven't had Kangaroo in years (finding them next to canine food in the supermarket puts me off).

    But this looks really good and I'll definitely give this a go. Thanks for sharing!

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  11. I have only tried Kangaroo once and it was extremely tough. This is a great way of eating it. Thai salads are so refreshing. Especially on hot summer days like this.

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  12. looks hopping fresh!
    marinade is something I swear by too:)

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  13. this salad looks lovely! i've been cooking quite a bit of jill dupleix recently and i have to say, her recipes are so easy to use and taste great!

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  14. I saw the same recipe but you are so quick to make the salad!! Looks really good!

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  15. Hi all, Did we all have a good Australia Day? The kangaroo salad would have been great - just toss in some emu and we could have had the national coat of arms on a plate :)

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  16. OMG! I made this on Australia Day. I absolutely adored it. I couldn't get enough of it. I must make it again soon.

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