11

Menu

Betel leaves with

accoutrements

Nutty palo cortado sherry

Grilled eggplant salad

with prawns

Golden, bottle-aged riesling

Hor mok

Refreshing cold

pilsner-style lager

Stir-fry of young angled

gourd and tendrils

Hoppy, cloudy New England IPA

Green curry of chicken

Rich, textural orange wine

Sour orange fi sh curry

Off -dry, tangy chenin blanc

Pandan, tapioca and young

coconut pudding

Passito-style sweet wine

100 gm shredded coconut

30 betel leaves, washed

and patted dry with

paper towels

100 gm dried shrimp (see note)

100 gm small roasted peanuts

100 gm young ginger, fi nely

diced (see note)

3-4 red shallots, fi nely diced

10 red birdseye chillies,

thinly sliced

Finger limes, halved, or

diced lime fl esh, to serve

MIENG KHAM SAUCE

2 tbsp dried fi nely grated

coconut (or desiccated)

10 gm (2cm piece) galangal,

coarsely chopped

I

t started off as a joke with our

neighbour, John Picone. John is a fruit

grower whose reputation extends well

beyond his northern New South Wales

region. The climate and the soil here are just

right for growing temperate, subtropical and

tropical produce, and John’s orchard is filled

with rare and delicious fruit, which he grows

as much for himself and his family as for the

local farmers’ markets.

It was the variety of fruit at John’s stand

that caught my eye at the Byron market, but

it was the green Kampot peppercorns that

made me stop and take a serious look. I work

in Sydney, with my husband Matt, on the

Chat Thai group of restaurants founded by

my mum, Amy Chanta, and we almost never

see green Kampot pepper in the markets down south.

We struck up a conversation with John, trying to impress

upon him how much we wanted his produce. This led to

a friendship which has developed over the years during our

annual visits to Byron during fig season – April – which

I think is the best time to enjoy Byron in its prime.

After a few years, John suggested that we try growing our

own Kampot peppercorns just across his fence line. The next

day we went to inspect the property and not long after, settled

into growing exactly what we wanted.

Boon Luck Farm, which we started in 2015, has made

for a challenging and eye-opening reckoning with how our

food system works. Mum started our restaurants in 1989 and

over the decades we’ve moved closer and closer to working

MIENG KHAM

Betel leaves with accoutrements

SERVES 8-10 // PREP TIME 20 MINS // COOK 45 MINS (PLUS COOLING)

“Thai food is so much about textures and the immediate

fl avour on the palate,” says Palisa Anderson. “And this is

one of those dishes that defi nes Thai cookery: simple and

showcasing good ingredients.”

1½ lemongrass stalks, white

part only

350 gm soft palm sugar

2 tsp shrimp paste

60 gm dried shrimp, fi nely

ground in a food processor

1 Dry-roast shredded coconut

in a wok or frying pan over

low-medium heat, tossing, until

golden (10 minutes).

2 For mieng kham sauce,

dry-roast coconut in a wok

or large frying pan over

medium heat until golden

(8-10 minutes). Set aside. Add

galangal and lemongrass to

wok and dry-roast until fragrant

directly with farmers to source our

fresh produce. Growing our own has

brought us the quality and quantity that

always seemed beyond our control. In

learning about land management and

natural farming, I have become deeply

passionate about growing nutrient-dense

food, which goes hand in hand with

responsible land stewardship.

Through growing our own produce we

have developed a greater holistic approach

to cooking for ourselves and our guests.

These recipes are a snapshot of how we

like to eat at home – food that is fresh,

uncomplicated and mostly vegetables.

You will be able to source most of

the ingredients for these dishes from the

supermarket, and if not, it’s food that is forgiving of substitutions.

But buying fresh produce from local organic grower’s markets will

make a noticeable difference.

Much of Thai cooking is about gathering the ingredients

and the prep – the work you do before you fire up a pot or wok.

With that in mind, if you’d like to push the envelope further,

as we are trying to do, challenge yourself by growing some of

the ingredients at home – start with the fine herbs, which can

be done in pots, then get brave and grow some eggplant; if you

have a shady spot, betel leaves are your next step – you’ll enjoy

this food so much more, I promise you.

Boon Cafe and Jarern Chai Grocer, 1/425 Pitt St, Sydney, NSW,

(02) 9281 2114; Chat Thai has several Sydney locations; its Thaitown

HQ is at 20 Campbell St, Sydney, NSW, (02) 9211 1808.

(2-3 minutes). Finely pound

galangal mixture with a mortar

and pestle, then place in a large

saucepan with palm sugar,

shrimp paste and 600ml water.

Bring to the boil, stirring to

dissolve sugar, reduce heat

to medium and simmer,

whisking occasionally, until

sticky and reduced by a quarter

(10-15 minutes). Stir in ground

shrimp and roasted coconut

and cool to room temperature.

3 Serve betel leaves with dried

shrimp, peanuts, ginger, shallot,

chilli, roasted coconut and lime

with sauce on the side.

Note Dried shrimp is available

from Asian grocers. Young

ginger is soft and juicy; look

for ginger with thin, pale skin.

Wine suggestion Nutty palo

cortado sherry. ➤

110 GOURMET TRAVELLER