Sadly, this year I missed Australia Day because I was in a jet lag induced coma, whereas usually I would have an alcohol induced coma.  So to compensate I declared that Saturday would be my own personal National Day.

I woke up early, donned some stubbies (short shorts), my trusty wife beater (for the uninitiated faded blue singlet.  These used to be only worn by truckers and bogans until the advent of the reflective hi-visibility vest.  The wife beater is now the exclusive attire of bogans.) and my most patriotic pair of pluggers (also known as thongs, this pair had suffered a bilateral blowout whereby the central section is held in place by a strategically placed safety pin).  I was all ready to cruise.  Before I jumped into my fully sick ute I regarded the boxing kangaroo mud flaps, RM Williams bumper stickers and my several flags.  It’s a great day to be Austray-yan!

As I drove around the Hills I got several weird stares.  Was it the flags they took offence to or was it my ultra cool mix tape cranked to volume 10 on the tape deck (Jimmy Barnes, Daryl Braithwaite, Men at Work and Rolf Harris to name a few).  I continued to drive further west where I would be more at home.  It turns out wherever I went I was received with strange looks and a less than cordial reception.  I think it turns out that everyone accepts ultra bogan (read Patriotic) behaviour on Australia Day but it wears thin in the following days.  It is fun to let your hair down and have a good day once in a while and celebrating Captain Cook’s arrival in Australia is a good reason to party.

Even though it’s a few days late.  To celebrate Australia day I decided to cook a national icon.  I tried to find platypus, echidna, koala and wombat but everywhere seemed to be sold out.  Instead I cooked some Kangaroo in a Japanese style.  I guess it is hardly cooking but Kangaroo raw is a treat and you should give it a go.

None of the above events actually occurred, except the cooking and the jet lag.  Btw I also know that Australia Day does not celebrate Captain Cook, everyone knows its to commemorate the Rum Rebellion, or was it Federation or maybe Ellen DeGeneres’s birthday.  Well its fun anyway you put it.

Kangaroo Tataki with Ponzu Sauce

Ingredients
2 Kangaroo Fillets
1 Spring Onion, green part only cut into matchsticks
Zest of a Lime
Ponzu Sauce
½ cup Dashi Broth
4 tbsp Mirrin
¼ cup Lime Juice
1 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
2 tsp Soy Sauce

Method
  1. Season the kangaroo fillet with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat a frypan and a little peanut oil over a medium heat.  Quickly sear all side of the meat (this should take less than a minute) and remove the meat from the pan.
  3. Wrap the meat tightly with cling film and freeze until firm (about an hour).  Remove from freezer and cut into very thin slices (approximately 1mm) with a very sharp knife.  Layout in a fan pattern on a serving plate.
  4. Scatter lime zest over meat and garnish with spring onion.
  5. Make Ponzu sauce by combining dashi, mirrin, lime juice, vinegar and soy sauce.  Spoon a small amount over the kangaroo.

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