You can see Rohan Park prepare this dish at the Perth Good Food and Wine Show from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 July at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. View the Kleenheat Kitchen chef schedule here. 

The dish:

Leeuwin Coast Akoya, wild scampi caviar, nduja, fermented orange, miso, buttermilk, lemon myrtle, Great Southern Groves first press olive oil, macadamia, finger lime.

Serves 4 (entree size).

Ingredients

• 20 Leeuwin Coast Akoya
• 25g tin Wild scampi caviar (alternatively premium sturgeon caviar or supermarket grade lumpfish caviar)
• 2 tsp good quality red miso paste
• 2 tsp bitter orange marmalade
• 250ml buttermilk
• 250ml macadamia milk
• 15ml Great Southern Groves olive oil
• 3 drops lemon myrtle essential oil (dried lemon myrtle powder will work as well)
• 2 tbsn nduja
• 4 large finger limes, gems removed and deseeded
• 100g macadamias, roasted
• Salt to season

Akoya

1. Shuck oysters, removing beard and them refreshing in ice cold lightly salted water.
2. Bring a pot of water to the boil and prepare an ice bath.
3. Reduce water to a heavy simmer and add your Akoyas, blanching them for 3 minutes and then removing them from the pot into your ice bath.
4. Once cool, remove your Akoyas from the ice bath, toss in good extra virgin olive oil and set aside in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Buttermilk dressing

1. Mix buttermilk, macadamia milk, olive oil and lemon myrtle and salt to taste.
2. Put aside with the rest of your ingredients until ready to serve

Macadamia crumb

1. Roast macadamias on a tray at 175c in your oven for ten minutes or until lightly golden brown
2. Allow nuts to cool completely.
3. Pulse nuts carefully in a food processor until a breadcrumb or cous cous consistency being careful not to take the crumb to a paste or alternatively you can chop your nuts roughly with a knife.
4. Season lightly with salt and set aside.

Final steps and plate up

1. Bring your nduja to temperature in a small to medium saucepan until just starting to sizzle.
2. Add Akoyas to pan and warm through with nduja gently, being careful not to overheat.
3. While Akoyas are heating place a swipe of miso and bitter orange marmalade down the centre of your plate with a nice bed of macadamia crumb for your Akoya to sit on.
4. Next you can place your Akoyas with a little of the warm nduja around the plate on top of the macadamia.
5. To garnish the Akoya place a small amount of caviar and finger lime gems on each of the oysters.
6. To finish, dress the plate with your buttermilk sauce being sure to stir thoroughly so the oils are evenly spread through.
7. As a final touch you can use chive or any soft herb that you like, I have chosen shiso to nicely balance out the other bold and bright flavours of the dish!
8. Serve down the middle of your table as a shared tapas plate or plate up individual entrée serves to wow your guests at your next dinner party!

---

Meet Rohan Park

What led you to become a chef?

I decided to become a chef after tiring of the mining industry and deciding to follow my family roots into hospitality.  It was inevitable really with my mother being a food scientist, my grandmother being a cooking lecturer and my great grandfather being one of Perth’s most prominent pastry chefs in his day.

What appeals to you about this dish?

This lovely Leeuwin Coast Akoya is served with wild and wonderful fermented fruits and condiments from our library at the restaurant with some macadamias, as well as a buttermilk and macadamia sauce split with lemon myrtle and Great Southern Groves first press olive oil. I finish the dish with some amazing wild scampi caviar and rainforest pearl finger lime gems!  

This dish showcases so many local and indigenous ingredients while still remaining cohesive and accessible to everyday punters and avid foodies alike. It’s best enjoyed with an Old Young’s G&T!

What are your favourite ingredients to use in your dishes?

Indigenous ingredients hold a place close to my heart as my cuisine is so orientated around them and my career history has gravitated towards them strongly alongside Nordic and Japanese cooking and fermentation techniques.  Right now, I’m really happy to be incorporating some more of the lesser-used ingredients like cinnamon myrtle, anise myrtle, native lemongrass and bush tomato into my dishes.

How often do you experiment with creating new meals or dishes?

I love creating not only new meals and dishes but new flavours completely. I’m very lucky to be able to work with some fantastic, unique native and indigenous ingredients. When I pair these with our fermented and preserved premium ingredients I often find myself in a very rare position wherein I have created something that’s not been done before – that’s pretty special.

What are some of your favourite restaurants and cafes in Perth?

I really love Uncle Lam’s Vietnamese in Morley and Oishii Ramen in Myaree. If I’m feeling like a serious dinner experience I would say somewhere like Fleur, Wildflower, Heritage Wine Bar, Madalena’s, or Manuka Woodfire Kitchen.