Tasty Tucker: Kangaroo with a Spicy Kick

The kangaroo is an Australian icon. It also happens to taste fantastic. But many of us still feel a twinge of guilt when skippy hops off the paddock and onto the plate. In such moments of doubt, the only recourse is patriotic pride.

Historically the roo has been the sole domain of fancy restaurants, where you find it fused inseparably with something terrifyingly ambiguous, known as a ‘jus’. But increasingly it’s bouncing into supermarkets.

You don’t have to feel bad about eating roo. It’s more sustainable for the environment than other types of meat, given it requires no farming or land clearing. We’re going to venture that roos let off less methane than cows, too. With all of this in mind, we’ve put together a delicious roo recipe for your travels.

Picture credit: PICTURE CREDIT: Aleksey Malakhov/Getty Images

Cook time: One hour

Serves: Four

Ingredients:

• Cooking oil
• 500g of kangaroo meat
• 500g of sweet potato
• 200g of spring onions
• 250g of broccoli
• Rice
• 2 spoons of red curry paste
• 400mL of coconut milk
• Fish sauce
• Sugar
• Lime
• Roasted peanuts

Directions

For this one you’re going to need your biggest burner. Ideally, use a wok; if not a wok, a large pan with upturned edges. Pour in a few spoons of oil and heat.

The roo may come diced already; otherwise dice it up yourself into cubes. Put in half of the roo and cook for a couple of minutes until it’s brown; then remove and put in the second half. This allows the roo to cook more effectively and evenly. Once all of the roo is cooked put it aside on a plate.

Next, add some more oil and heat again. Spoon in two spoons of curry paste – or more if you like enjoy that sweet, sweet burn – and allow it to heat up for a few minutes. Then, add in the coconut milk and stir the mixture around. Once this is near to boiling add the roo back in.

As the above is happening, peel the sweet potatoes and cut them up into bite-sized pieces. The smaller the better, as this will help them to cook and ensure the middle isn’t too firm. Dice up the spring onions, discarding the green parts in favour of the white, juicy stalks. Cut your broccoli up. If you are worried about the veggies being firm, you can chuck them on the boil in a separate pot to soften them up.

Into the boiling coconut water with the cooked kangaroo, add all of the veggies and allow the lot to simmer. Regularly taste to test whether everything has softened up. Once everything is good to go, add two teaspoons of fish sauce, a few pinches of sugar and a decent squirt of lime juice. Serve up with rice, plus a garnish of peanuts on top.