Name: Grilled Moreton Bay bug tails with tamarind, chilli, cape gooseberries and trout roe
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 2 green onions, finely sliced; 2 tablespoons chopped spearmint leaves; 2 tablespoons coriander leaves; 1 tablespoon Thai basil leaves or holy basil leaves; 6 kaffir lime leaves, shredded; 12 cape gooseberries, halved; 25 ml sesame oil; 18 large green Moreton Bay bug tails; 50 ml fish sauce; freshly ground black pepper; Chilli Oil; 1 cucumber, finely sliced; 2 red shallots, finely sliced; 200 ml Tamarind Liquid; 30 g palm sugar, shaved; ½ cup trout roe; 150 ml strained lime juice; 25 ml Sugar Syrup; 25 ml Ginger Juice; ¼ cup Green Mango Pickle; 2 teaspoons drained Pickled Ginger, shredded; 3 red bird’s-eye chillies, finely sliced; 60 g bean sprouts; 3 handfuls mitzuba or mizuna leaves

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Spice

By Christine Manfield

Published 1999

About

Make this fabulous salad in early spring when the cape gooseberries and trout roe are in season. You can sometimes get roe from freshwater brook trout, the ultimate, but it is not always readily available — in this case, use ocean trout roe or freshwater salmon roe. The sweetness of the fruit and the fresh crunch of the roe enhance the tamarind and lift the salad, and your tastebuds, into another realm!