Very gently break up any lumps of rice with a spatula or your fingers, taking care to keep the individual grains intact. Allow the rice to come to room temperature. To make the spice mix, place all of the ingredients in a small frying pan and toast over low heat until very fragrant, taking care not to burn the chilli flakes. If the ingredients become too dark, start again. Set aside to cool, then blitz into a fine powder using a food processor.

When the rice is ready and starting to sizzle, add the white pepper, salt, sugar and MSG (if using) and stir through. Add the spring onion and cook for 1 minute or so before serving. Add the star anise and cardamom to the oil and fry over low heat until fragrant. At this point, the oil should be very hot. Pour half the oil over the chilli mixture and stir. Wait 5-6 minutes for the oil to cool slightly, then pour the remaining oil over the chilli mixture.Evans grew up in Northamptonshire, working as a chef in London and Paris, before turning to baking in 2014. She had a formative experience at Loafer Bread, an artisan operation in Melbourne, then spent two-and-a-half years in Lima at a bakery that milled its own wheat. She returned to London in 2019 to work in the tiny basement bakery at Flor restaurant in Borough Market. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add enough vegetable oil to evenly coat the base of the pan. Cook the sausages until they are a deep, golden brown, rolling them around continuously for about 10 minutes Rosheen turns 30 this year and was born in Singapore to a Kashmiri father and a Filipino-Chinese mother, and she speaks fluent Hokkien. She immigrated to Melbourne with her parents when she was young and, like many second-generation Chinese, she was sent to a Chinese language school every weekend to learn Mandarin.

Food writers such as John Newton (The Oldest Foods on Earth, 2016), Vic Cherikoff (The Bush Food Handbook, 1997) and Jean-Paul Bruneteau (Tukka: Real Australian Food, 1996), as well as chefs such as Sydney’s Peter Gilmore (of Quay fame) – none of them First Nations people – edged the conversation towards the mainstream, along with many pioneers in the agricultural industry. Hurrah for this landmark book, which combines Adnyamathanha man Damien Coulthard’s cultural knowledge with Rebecca Sullivan’s interest in the local food economy and a desire to feed her family well. Both authors show you how to buy, grow, cook and eat from the amazing pantry on our doorstep. Remove the omelette from the wok and drain on paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Serve with sliced green spring onion and steamed rice. Rosheen Kaul immigrated to Melbourne, Australia with her parents when she was young. ( Supplied: Rosheen Kaul) A cookbook celebrating the blending of cultures and identity through food, with a bounty of Chinese-influenced dishes from all over South-East AsiaOnce the chilli oil is completely cooled, remove the star anise and cardamom and discard. Cover the oil and leave overnight at room temperature. In writing Chinese-ish, it was actually incredibly helpful to have a body of work to pull from and inevitably flesh out to make a more complete cookbook,” Kaul tells Broadsheet. We threw the first book together in about a week and a half, and only foresaw printing maybe a dozen or so copies for our friends,” says Hu. What was planned as a small ’zine turned into a series, and eventually a book deal. While the Isol(Asian) series had a goal to teach the fundamentals of Chinese cooking, Kaul says Chinese-ish needed to provide context as well: “Or the nuance and deviations from the ‘ish’ part wouldn’t make sense.” To make part 1, use a pair of sharp kitchen scissors to cut the dried chillies into small pieces. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan and fry the chillies and peppercorns over low heat until they are fragrant and the chillies have turned a deep red. Keep moving the chillies and be extremely careful not to burn them. Allow to cool, then crush using a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a bowl. Continue to cook the rice over medium-high heat until the grains fluff up again from the steam. The key is to control the heat – don't let the grains burn or colour in any way. Be patient.

Chinese-ish is filled with intricate drawings of ingredients and dishes, and rich Chinoiserie-style section breaks: lavish floral wallpaper dotted with Australian and Chinese flora and fauna. If you look closely enough, you can spot a little monkey and dragon, which represent Kaul and Hu respectively. The unique flora and fauna that has nourished First Nations people for more than 100,000 years gets a mention in historical colonial documents and early cookbooks (fern syrup and native currant jam feature in an 1843 recipe collection printed in Australia) and yet remain a culinary mystery for many of us. Why? Whisk the eggs, salt, white pepper and cornflour slurry together thoroughly. Ensure there are no strands of egg white remaining and that the mixture is well combined. Add the white spring onion, cooked meat and seafood, and the julienned vegetables, then stir to combine with the egg mixture. Set aside. I’ve chosen a recipe for you that seemed to me an excellent introduction to the food in this happy-making book: Burnt Spring Onion Oil Noodles, just perfect for when you need a simple but richly flavoured solo supper.To assemble, stir the sago and mango puree together to combine. Divide between two chilled serving bowls and drizzle with the coconut milk. Garnish with the extra diced mango and plenty of pomelo pulp.