8 delicious ways to eat native ingredients on Jan 26

Got the holiday off? Add some of these to your plans. Working? Sorry about that. But you can make your lunch a better munch.

Adam Liaw 's twist on salt and pepper squid. Source: Destination Flavour Down Under

First up, here's a quick guide to the more common Australian native ingredients. You've probably seen a lot of lemon myrtle lately, but what about munties, or Molucca raspberries?

Now let's eat - everything from barbecue specials to double-choc bacon and macadamia brownies.

1. Fire up the barbecue

Summer seafood kicks up a notch with  these grilled prawns with lemon myrtle and a vanilla hollandaise.

Grilled prawns with lemon myrtle and vanilla hollandaise Source: Martyna Angell

2. Put a brick on it

How about brick chicken with  lemon myrtle: Join Adam Liaw to discover why laying a foil-wrapped brick on top of a butterflied chicken on a barbecue is not just a gimmick - the result is a more tender and juicy barbecued bird.

3. Go a little nutty

Macadamias are Australia's most widely available Indigenous food; four species grow in Australia, two of them used for commercial production. Macadamias still grow wild, but reduction in their native habitat means all four species are regarded as threatened. One species is found only in a single location in Queensland.  There about 850 macadamia growers in Australia, supplying us with nuts for dishes such as chocolate and macadamia muffins (a must for your holiday picnic hamper!), macadamia and honeycomb ice-cream sandwiches or these double-choc stout, macadamia and candied bacon brownies.

Yes, we have a recipe for candied bacon brownies. Source: Smith Street Books

4. Add zing with native finger lime

Peter Kuruvita melds Sri Lankan and Indigenous Australian flavours in his blackened mackerel with lemon myrtle and finger lime. Finger lime looks a little like fish roe but tastes like citrus, with little burts of sweet-sour tang that pop on the tonge.

Source: Dan Freene

5. Put a Queensland spin on salt and pepper squid

Salt and pepper squid is found on menus all over Australia (and we have an excellent recipe from Food Safari here)  but this version from Adam Liaw puts a uniquely Queensland spin on it. "While the resilient squid can be simply tossed in a little flour, more delicate seafood, such as Queensland’s extraordinary Moreton Bay bugs, may need a light, crispy batter to protect it from the ravages of the oil." Get his recipe for salt and pepper Moreton Bay bugs here - Aussie seafood and macadamia nuts, to boot.

Adam Liaw 's twist on salt and pepper squid. Source: Destination Flavour Down Under

6. Easy hack for ice-cream wow

Grab a jar of gubinge jam and use it to add flavour to a batch of this gubinge ice-cream.  Made from the Australian native fruit also known as Kakadu plum, you'll find the jam at specialist retailers, or online suppliers such as Indigiearth.

7. Or make a batch of rosella jam

Also called wild hibiscus, rosellas are North Queensland wildflowers - you might spot them in the occasional florest, as the long stems of fleshy red "flowers" are striking. They give this jam tartness in addition to a beautiful crimson colour.

Source: Feast magazine

And finally....

8. Of course you're having pavlova

We can't begin to guess how many pavs will be eaten on Jan 26. Hundreds of thousands, we'd guess. So how about pavlova with rose sorbet and quandong cream.

Source: SBS Food

Discover more about Indigenous Australia with NITV's #AlwaysWillBe, an interactive broadcast and online line-up of arts, culture, music, commemoration and expression on January 26.