Lemon myrtle leaf squid with green papaya salad

For Christmas (amongst other goodies) my mum sent me a collection of Australian spices from Herbie's Spices in Rozelle, Sydney. Those in Sydney will be familiar with the spice haven that is Herbie's. Herbie's can send the spices to you overseas - they can package the spices in a special bag with a customs declaration - check out their site or send them an email.

The spices I was given are Bushman's Pepperpot, Aussie Dukkah (called "Ockkah"), roasted and ground Wattleseed, Mulling Spices for mulled wine, and ground Lemon Myrtle Leaf. I started researching to discover what to do with my new spices and found this recipe for crispy prawns with lemon myrtle leaf on Herbie's website - basically you toss prawns in a mix of rice flour, lemon myrtle leaf, smoked paprika, chilli powder and salt, before shallow frying. I decided to use squid instead of prawns and served it with a green papaya salad and sticky rice.

The spices with the squid were quite subtle and a lovely match for the fresh and sassy papaya salad. Next time I'd like to try something where the lemon myrtle leaf is more prominent. The spice has a lovely green colour and a gorgeous, intense lemon smell. I think it is a great match for seafood and chicken - I shall experiment some more!

The green papaya salad was based on this recipe here. Here's what I did:

Green papaya salad
(serves 2 generously, or 4 + as part of several side dishes)
3 cloves of garlic
1 birds eye chilli
3 tablespoons of brown sugar or palm sugar
1/2 tablespoon of roasted peanuts
1/4 lime
Finely chop, or blitz, or pound in a mortar and pestle, the garlic, chilli and peanuts. Add to the sugar and lime and mash together.


Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4-5 cherry tomatoes, quartered
Add these ingredients to the above mix. Bruise/squash the tomatoes a little and mix everything together well.


2 green papaya
1/4-1/8 Chinese cabbage
a handful each of fresh coriander and mint
2 spring onions
Finely slice or shred the papaya. Finely slice the cabbage. Put these in a bowl and add the fresh herbs (I gave mine a rough chop but it's not necessary) and finely sliced spring onions.


Add the dressing mix to the papaya and combine well. Taste and add extra sugar, fish sauce, chilli or lemon juice depending on whether you're lacking in sweetness, saltiness, heat or acidity.


Serve with roasted peanuts and/or cashews.

P.S. I've found a macadamia, chocolate and wattleseed cake recipe, so will be trying that out very soon.