Some of the most distinctive and surprising flavours can be found within our own flora. Not to mention the vibrant colours and textures of native Australian ingredients, including finger lime, saltbush, wattleseed, pepperberry, lemon myrtle and macadamia.
These recipes celebrate the flavours of Australia, with native Australian ingredients as the heroes. While First Nations communities have used these Indigenous ingredients for tens of thousands of years, it’s only in recent years that using native Australian ingredients has become popular in restaurants around the country – so much so, in fact, that some native ingredients are more easily sourced and used in home cooking.
From blood lime and chilli mud crab and roasted lemon myrtle-stuffed pork racks to Davidson’s plum cocktails and sticky date puddings with cinnamon myrtle and macadamia brittle, here are our best recipes that hero native Australian ingredients.
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How to make damper made with wattleseed and bush tomato

Cinnamon myrtle-spiced sticky date pudding with macadamia brittle
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Roast pork rack with lemon myrtle and cranberry stuffing
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Kap mauri oxtail ragù with native thyme and warrigal greens
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Salt-baked chicken in pepperberry and wild fennel

Barbecued butterflied lamb leg with saltbush rub

Kylie Kwong’s sweet and sour pork with Davidson’s plum

Jock Zonfrillo’s roast turkey with native herbs and spices

Kylie Kwong’s stir-fried Australian native greens with garlic

Sesame kingfish sashimi with ponzu and finger lime

Kylie Kwong’s deep-fried duck with Davidson’s plum sauce

Kylie Kwong’s deep-fried chicken with finger-lime sauce
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Flounder fried in fubá with finger lime and young ginger
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Jacqui Challinor’s kingfish ceviche with avocado and finger lime

Barbecued oysters with finger-lime mignonette

Sean Moran’s parsley salad with finger lime

Grilled kingfish belly, fennel and grilled finger lime

Davidson’s Plum Sour by Raes on Wategos

Salted fish with macadamia and native pepper

Salad of succulents with sea urchin and quinoa

Chinese mushrooms with warrigal greens and jerusalem artichokes

Carpaccio of kangaroo with beetroot and native fruits

Suckling pig with roast fennel and warrigal greens

Almond-milk chia with berries and watermelon in eucalyptus-hibiscus syrup

Escabeche of Murray cod with saffron and currants

Sautéed mud crab with ginger and spring onion (Keong chung hai)

Crisp barramundi fillets with roasted chilli, mint and coriander

Shane Osborn’s grilled marron with fennel salad and green olive and vanilla velouté

Tony Bilson’s trout mousseline with yabby sauce

Black marron with green peppercorn and martini sauce

Automata’s kingfish with crème fraîche yuzukosho, shiso and finger lime

Helly Raichura’s stir-fried warrigal greens and vegetables (shak bhaja)
Photo: Parker Blain