Name: Dan Hong’s bug tails with butter and Asian flavours
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2 - 4
Ingredients: 100 gm butter; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 1 birdseye chilli (seeds optional), thinly sliced; 4 raw Balmain or Moreton bay bugs (125gm-150gm each), split in half lengthways; Spring onion, thinly sliced lengthways, or garlic flowers, to serve; Lemon wedges, to serve; French fries or crusty white bread, to serve; Seasoning sauce; 75 ml fish sauce; 30 ml Shaoxing wine; 30 gm caster sugar

Dan Hong’s bug tails with butter and Asian flavours

Serve with French fries or crusty white bread to mop up all the sauce.

Balmain bug tails topped with red chilli and green garnish

Serves 2 - 4

Prep

15M

Cook

10M

Total

25M

Ingredients

100 gm butter

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 birdseye chilli (seeds optional), thinly sliced

4 raw Balmain or Moreton bay bugs (125gm-150gm each), split in half lengthways

Spring onion, thinly sliced lengthways, or garlic flowers, to serve

Lemon wedges, to serve

French fries or crusty white bread, to serve

Seasoning sauce

75 ml fish sauce

30 ml Shaoxing wine

30 gm caster sugar

Method

1.Preheat oven to 200°C. For seasoning sauce, whisk ingredients and 45ml water in a bowl to combine.

2.Heat butter, garlic and chilli in a deep ovenproof frying pan over medium heat until foaming (1-2 minutes). Add bugs, flesh-side down, and cook until seared (1 minute). Transfer pan to oven and cook until bugs are cooked through (3-4 minutes). Remove from oven, add seasoning sauce and heat over medium-high heat, adding an extra tablespoon of water if necessary to thin sauce, until just boiling.

3.Transfer bugs to a bowl and garnish with chilli and spring onion. Serve with lemon wedges and French fries.

Dan Hong

Styling by Jerrie Joy

Styling by Redman Lloyd