What to do when you can't get fresh Australian Native's
Fresh fruit in season is amazing, no doubt about it. But our oldest foods are still our newest, (from a commercial perspective) so unless you have a neighbour with a laden Lily Pilly tree, or you know where to forage, getting them fresh is a very short window.
Frozen is a little easier. But dried is absolutely the easiest. We have been getting asked a lot lately how to easily substitute fresh or frozen with dried so we figured we would give you a few easy subs to follow for our most popular Native fruits.
Bear in mind that this can easily be adjusted to your taste and experience cooking with these beauties. I love them to really zing with these flavours but if you’re just starting out - they are more sour than most people are used to and can be astringent too - so my best advice, taste, adjust, taste.
Try this as a guideline to begin.
Finger Limes
- For every one fresh finger lime, try 1 teaspoon dried powder or three teaspoons of freeze dried chips.
Quandong
- For every 1 cup frozen, I would start with half a cup dried half, evaporated.
Muntries
- For every tablespoon fresh or frozen, try half a teaspoon powdered.
Riberries
- For every tablespoon fresh or frozen, try half a teaspoon powdered.
Davidson Plum
- For every half a cup of fruit, try one teaspoon powder or three teaspoons freeze dried chips.
Desert Lime
- They will hydrate in water but not to their original state. We use them as-is normally, but in tangines and curries etc. they will act like preserved lime and re-hydrate.