Salmon Yakijirri

Here you can dig deep into the new Australian style of cooking salmon using native ingredients that are unique to the land of Oz, but are easily obtainable by mail order no matter where you live.

Yakijirri is a ready prepared mix based on the Aussie bush tomato, akudjura. These grow wild and have been used by the Aboriginal population for thousands of years. On their own they tend towards bitterness once any kind of heat is applied, but this mixture created by Aussie chef Vic Cherikoff gets round that problem very neatly, without losing any of the original authenticity.

If you want a simple, startling and innovative way to cook salmon cutlets for a dinner party, this is the way to go. You need:

• 4 salmon cutlets
• 4 tbs yakijirri
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 tbs butter for frying

Please use butter in this dish and put your diet on hold for one meal. It really does make a difference to the finish.

Brush one surface of each cutlet with the beaten egg and coat with the yakijirri. Heat the butter in a thick bottomed pan until it starts to brown. Add the cutlets, unseasoned side down, and cook halfway through before turning over.

Maintain the heat so that the yakijirri becomes crusted and blackened. Once cooked, you can easily remove the backbone and long bone using kitchen tongs. Serve at once with buttered noodles and a thin honey and soy sauce. In fact, why not make the whole thing a true Aussie dish by using lemon aspen syrup instead of the honey?

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