Kangaroo Stir-fry with warrigal greens
I am so delighted that Aunty Beryl’s Cookbook has been published in time for NAIDOC week July 5th – 12th. A proud Gamilaroi Elder and custodian of ancient wisdom, Aunty Berly Van-Oploo OAM has contributed enormously to our appreciation and knowledge of native ingredients for over 40 years. Her hospitality training college, Yaama Dhiyaan, in Darlington. Sydney, is Australia’s first and only hospitality college specialising in Indigenous cuisine. Her book reflects her warm down-to-earth approach and her wish for everybody to be able to cook simple, healthy meals at home.
Inroduction
About this Recipe
By Sheridan Rogers
"I created this dish with my friend Kylie Kwong when I first started a cooking school in Wilson Street, Redfern," says Beryl. "Kylie would bring her wok to do cooking demonstrations. I suggested making a stir-fry with kangaroo, and joked the kangaroo was very fresh, having jumped over the fence of Taronga Zoo the night before! Warrigal greens, sometimes called native spinach, are a local alternative to Asian greens. You can buy them frozen or from some specialty greengrocers." Her recipes for crispy-skin barramundi with native parsley and baby potatoes, lemon myrtle butter biscuits, saltbush lamb rump with bunya nut, lemon myrtle chicken pies and easy chocolate wattleseed mousse are straightforward and not intimidating. Thankfully most of the native ingredients are easier to find in our supermarkets now.
Ingredients
400 g kangaroo fillet
½ teaspoon ground pepperberry
½ teaspoon salt
100 ml cooking oil
1 small red capsicum
1 small green capsicum
1 small red onion
1 carrot
1 small bunch warrigal greens, washed thoroughly (or use Asian greens)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
¼ cup (60 ml) soy sauce (salt reduced if available)
¼ cup (60 ml) oyster sauce (salt reduced if available)
Juice of ½ lime
½ bunch spring onions, cut into 3 cm pieces
1 teaspoon cornflour
Ground white pepper, to taste
Steamed brown rice, to serve
Thinly slice the kangaroo, then place in a bowl with the pepperberry, salt and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Marinate in the fridge for 1 hour while you prepare the vegetables, or overnight if you have time.
Deseed the capsicums, then cut into long, thin strips. Do the same with the onion and carrot.
When ready to cook, remove the kangaroo from the fridge.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil over medium heat. Fill a bowl with cold water. Blanch the warrigal greens for 10 seconds in the pan, then use tongs to transfer the greens straight to the bowl of cold water. Allow to cool for a minute, then drain.
Use a mortar and pestle to pound the garlic and chilli into a paste.
Heat a wok over high heat, then add 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil and the garlic-chilli paste, tossing quickly for 30 seconds. Add the kangaroo, stirring constantly, until the meat is seared but not cooked through. Transfer the kangaroo to a bowl.
Combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce and lime juice in a small bowl. Add the remaining oil to the wok, along with the vegetable strips and stir-fry for 3 minutes, or until tender. Add the warrigal greens and spring onion. Toss, then pour in the soy sauce mixture and toss through. Return the kangaroo to the wok and toss.
Mix the cornflour with ¼ cup (60 ml) water in a small bowl, then add to the wok and cook until thickened slightly.
Season with white pepper and serve with brown rice.