Top Sydney chefs reveal the go-to ingredients they always have stocked at home
If you're stranded on a desert island, what's the one item you'd bring and why?
Who knows what chefs Nathan Johnson and Dan Hong would have said had we asked them that question.
But we do know what kitchen item they'd bring if they were stranded on a dessert island – or, rather, stuck behind a stovetop.
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Executive chef of Sydney's ivy precinct Nathan Johnson swears by a versatile paste. Fiona Morris/Sydney Morning Herald
Mr Wong, MsG's and MuMu executive chef Dan Hong, meanwhile, opts for an easy marinade. Edwina Pickles/Sydney Morning Herald
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Single ingredient Aussie chefs always have at home
Picture this: There's nothing left in your fridge. You've braved the pantry, but except for bread buns and a tuna tin, it's empty.
They say the way to someone's heart is through their stomach, but with the sad sight greeting you once you cross your kitchen's threshold, you've got an uphill battle towards satisfaction.
Unless, according to Johnson, you have harissa.
Native to the Maghreb region in northwest Africa, harissa is a hot chilli pepper paste comprised of roasted red peppers and Baklouti peppers, plus warm herbs and spices including garlic, caraway seeds, cumin, coriander seeds – plus olive oil.
And if you have a jar in your fridge at all times, you basically can make a meal out of anything – be it dregs of bread or cut up vegetables.
It's also a reliable way to spice up your classic feast.
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Johnson says he puts harissa in 'almost everything'. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Hong, whose Balinese Style Grilled Barramundi with Sambal Matah is pictured here, opts for liquid shio koji. Supplied
"I just chuck harissa in almost everything," Johnson, who is the executive chef at Sydney's ivy precinct, tells 9Honey Kitchen.
"It can go in a salad, it can go on potatoes, it goes with chicken. I just always have harissa."
For Hong, who is the executive chef of Sydney restaurants Mr Wong, MsG's and MuMu, he always has liquid shio koji on-hand.
"[It's] the best quick marinade for fish and meats," Hong says of the Japanese seasoning, comprised of fermented rice and salt.
"And you can just chuck the meat or protein in the air fryer, and you got yourself a meal."
Nathan Johnson has curated the menu for and will be cooking at Good Food Events' Sydney Loves Cooking: Festive Feast Event on Saturday, December 16, 2023 at Bennelong Lawn in Sydney.
Nine is the owner of both the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food and nine.com.au.
