Tataki is a Japanese method of preparing fish or meat. The protein is seared only on the outside and then served sliced with an acidic dressing. The most common versions are tuna and beef. Last year during the wine trip in Australia, I had kangaroo tataki and liked it very much. Kangaroo fillet is very well suited for this prepartion, as the meat is very tender and flavorful. If you can’t find kangaroo, you could also use venison backstrap for a very similar effect.

Ponzu is a citrus-based dressing that should be made with a Japanese citrus fruit like yuzu. But if yuzu is not available, a mixture of lemon and lime juice is a good subtitute. The classic recipe includes rice vinegar, dark soy sauce, tamari sauce, mirin, dried bonito flakes, and konbu. For this dish I’ve used a simplified recipe that does not include the bonito and konbu. (Interestingly enough, the word ponzu is derived from the Dutch word pons, now obsolete, meaning punch.)

Ingredients

Serves 4 as an appetizer

• 225 grams (.5 lb) kangaroo fillet
• 1 Tbsp sake
• 2 tsp mirin
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Japanese soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 Tbsp sliced scallions, green part only, soaked in ice water
• salt
• neutral vegetable oil

Instructions

Season the kangaroo fillet with salt, cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour to allow the salt to penetrate into the meat.

Slice the green part of the scallions, and soak in ice water to crisp them up.

When the salt has had the chance to penetrate into the kangaroo fillet, pat it dry with paper towels.

Sear the kangaroo fillet briefly an all sides over very high heat in neutral vegetable oil.

Allow the kangaroo fillet to cool before slicing (first to room temperature and then in the refrigerator).

In the meantime, make the Ponzu sauce, by heating 1 tablespoon of sake and 2 teaspoons of mirin until reduced by half, to burn off the alcohol.

Take this off the heat, then add 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 1/2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and 1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice. Stir to mix.

Slice the kangaroo fillet thinly against the grain.

The meat should be rare on the inside.

Drain the scallions, and pat them dry with paper towels.

Arrange the slices of kangaroo on dishes with a suitable shape to hold the ponzu dressing. Pour the ponzu dressing on top, and garnish with the scallions.

Wine pairing

At wine pairing dinners at my house, we tried this dish with the following wines:

• Ippolito 1845 Calabria Pecorello 2023 (100% Pecorello, Calabria, Italy): excellent pairing
• Vidal-Fleury Condrieu 2020 (100% Viognier, Rhone, France): excellent pairing
• Librandi Segno Librandi Cirò Rosato 2023 (100% Gaglioppo, Calabria, Italy): excellent pairing
• Giant Steps Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2022 (100% Pinot Noir, Victoria, Australia): excellent pairing
• Shaw + Smith Lenswood Pinot Noir 2019 (100% Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hills, Australia): very good pairing, slight bitter note in the aftertaste
• Penfolds Max’s Chardonnay 2023 (100% Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills, Australia): good pairing, wine a bit too bright for the dish

With all these excellent pairings this may seem like an easy dish to pair a wine with, but in fact it was quite hard, as the acidity of the ponzu wreaked havoc on many wines that I tried with it when preparing for the wine pairing dinners. You need a wine that is not too acidic or too tannic, and can also handle the ‘creamy’ character of the rare meat. It is interesting to note that in the end I managed to find white, rosé, and red wines that worked very well. The fact that the Cirò rosé worked well certainly does not mean that all rosés will work, because it was terrible with my favorite rosé from the Provence. It was also terrible with Sancerre, as well as with red Burgundy. With a German off-dry Riesling it wasn’t bad, but the wine was way too powerful for the dish.