Festive feast recipes from Australia’s Top Chef

In the spirit of the holiday season, we’ve partnered with award-winning Sunshine Coast restaurant, Spirit House, to create spectacular festive feasts that you can recreate at home.

These very special Asian-inspired dishes have been developed by Spirit House Head Chef, Tom Hitchcock, recently named Australian ‘Chef of the Year’ by Food Services Australia. 

From Christmas lunch to Australia Day, dazzle your guests with flavour-packed dishes like Green Curry Sirloin and Spirit House Prawn Tarts (inspired by Thai street food, Khanom Beuang, a taco-like, crunchy pancake).

Or perhaps it will be the bite-sized Tuna Miang with Chuu Chee Dressing that will win your guests over?

And while some of the names might be a mouthful, rest assured these recipes are much easier to make than they sound, especially when you have a pro to guide you.

Watch Spirit House Head Chef, Tom, prepare his festive menu while giving the kitchen and barbeque in Endeavour Foundation’s New Year Prize Home a test run, then save the recipes below to whip up for your guest over the holidays.

Best of all, if you win this $2.5 million waterfront Mediterranean oasis, you’ll be cooking up a storm in a chef approved kitchen, complete with a Mielé induction cooktop, two Mielé ovens and an ultra-handy butler’s pantry.

For your chance to call this stunning Pelican Waters address home, snap up your $10 ticket now.

Win a $500 Spirit House voucher 

Want to dine at one of Sunshine Coast’s finest Asian-inspired restaurants? Head to our Facebook or Instagram page and tell us in 25 words or less what your favourite holiday tradition is, and you could soon be savouring the full Spirit House dining experience with a $500 Spirit House voucher and a knife set valued at $110.

*Entries open from 29 December 2023 to 11 January 2024. 

Tom Hitchcock’s Spirited Festive Feasts:

Christmas Appetisers

• Prawn Tarts
• Mushroom Cigars

New Year Party Bites

• Chuu Chee Miang
• Crab XO Buns

Australia Day Steak & Salad

• Green Curry Sirloin
• Som Tum Salad

Christmas Appetisers

Prawn Tarts

Ingredients:

• 10 x 40mm Savoury tart shells
• 200g Prawn Patè
• 60g Baked Coconut Custard
• 5 Cooked Prawns
• 1 Grated Coconut

Assembly:

1. Dice cooked prawns into small pieces.
2. Fill tart shells ¾ full with prawn patè.
3. Top up tart with baked coconut custard.
4. Add cooked diced prawns as the next layer.
5. Top with grated coconut and garnish with chili powder or microcoriander.

Baked Coconut Custard

Ingredients:

• 60g Whole Eggs
• 60g Coconut Milk
• 45g Palm Sugar
• 5g Tapioca Starch
• 6g Fish Sauce

Assembly:

1. Blend all ingredients until fine.
2. Line a small baking tray with baking paper and bake the mixture at 180C for 15 minutes.
3. Cool in the fridge until completely cool and set.
4. Blend once more until smooth and pass through a fine strainer.

Prawn Pat:

Ingredients:

• 270g Prawn Meat
• 40g 3 Kings Paste
• 5g Ground White Pepper
• 20g Coconut Cream
• 270g Cold Butter (diced into small cubes)
• Fish Sauce (to season)

Assembly:

1. In a wok with a little oil, stir fry the prawn meat.
2. Once nearly cooked, add in the 3 Kings Paste and cook until fragrant.
3. Add hot prawns to a blender with coconut cream, pepper, and a splash of fish sauce. Pulse blend.
4. Slowly add in the butter cubes (prawns need to be hot so that the butter can emulsify!) and gradually increase blender speed.
5. Pass the patè through a fine strainer.

Mushroom Cigars

Ingredients:

• 150g Mushroom Mousse
• 10 Brik Pastry Rolls
• 50g Chilli Jam
• Shiitake Mushroom Powder (to garnish)

Assembly:

1. Pipe mushroom mousse into brik pastry rolls.
2. Pipe chilli jam on top of brik pastry rolls.
3. Dust with shiitake mushroom powder.

Mushroom Mousse:

Ingredients:

• 225g Cashews
• 30g Lime Juice
• 150g Coconut Cream
• 150g Brown Onion
• 250g Shiitake Mushroom
• 250g Swiss Brown Mushroom
• 3g Chilli Powder
• 5g Ground White Pepper
• 15g Roasted Garlic
• 30g Garlic Oil
• 60g Mushroom Soy Sauce
• 70g Sweet Soy Sauce

Assembly:

1. Roast cashews in an oven at 180c for 10 minutes.
2. Peel and thinly slice brown onions and mushrooms.
3. In a pan with garlic oil, sauté the onion on medium heat until translucent.
4. Add in the mushrooms and continue to sauté until golden.
5. Add in the pepper, chilli, roasted garlic, and the mushroom soy sauce.
6. Mix well and transfer to a blender while hot.
7. Blend well and add in the lime juice, coconut cream, and roasted cashews blending until smooth and fine.
8. Pass through a strainer for best results.

New Year Party Bites

Chuu Chee Miang

Ingredients:

• 100g Sliced Tuna
• 10 Betel Leaves
• 15g Diced Lime (leave skin on for extra flavor!)
• 10g Diced Ginger
• 50g Roasted and Crushed Peanuts
• 15g Diced Golden Shallots
• 25g Toasted Shredded Coconut
• 100g Chuu Chee Miang Dressing
• Chilli (to taste)

Assembly:

1. In a clean bowl, mix together the diced aromats with Chuu Chee dressing, seasoning as needed.
2. In a separate bowl, season tuna with fish sauce to taste.
3. On a clean betel leaf, add tuna slices and a scoop of the Chuu Chee Miang mix.
4. Wrap the betel leaf into a small bundle and enjoy.

Chuu Chee Dressing

Ingredients:

• 100g Curry Paste
• 100g Palm Sugar
• 20g Oil
• Salt (to season)
• 5ml Lime Juice
• 5ml Fish Sauce

Assembly:

1. In a pot on low heat, add curry paste into the oil.
2. Cook paste until fragrant.
3. Add palm sugar and salt, cook until sugar completely dissolves, using the back of a spoon to break up the palm sugar clumps.
4. Adjust the seasoning with lime juice and fish sauce to taste.

Crab XO Buns

Ingredients:

• 10 Steam Buns
• 250g Cooked Crab Meat
• 200g XO Sauce from the store
• ½ Lime Juiced
• Crispy Shallots (to serve)

Assembly:

1. Slice cold steam buns and place in a steamer basket for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, mix together XO and crab in a separate pot and warm up.
3. Adjust seasoning as needed with lime juice.
4. Spoon crab filling into steam buns.
5. Garnish with crispy shallots.

Steam Buns

Dough 1:

• 10g Dried Yeast
• 5g Caster Sugar
• 55g Plain Flour
• 55g Warm Water (40c)

Assembly:

1. In a clean bowl, mix together the yeast, sugar, flour, and water.
2. Cover the bowl with glad wrap and allow standing for 30 minutes on the bench.

Dough 2:

• 120g Warm Water (40c)
• 200g Plain Flour
• 30g Caster Sugar
• 15g Vegetable Oil
• 3g Baking Powder
• 5g Salt

Assembly:

1. In a kitchen aid bowl, mix dough 1 and the rest of the ingredients for dough 2 with a dough hook on a low setting.
2. Knead the dough until it becomes elastic and smooth (about 8 minutes).
3. Transfer the dough into a clean bowl, covering with a damp tea towel to let proof for 1 hour at room temperature.
4. Knock back the dough and roll into 40g portions.
5. Place your buns onto individual steaming papers and let proof for another hour.
6. Once the buns are light and fluffy  it’s time to steam.
7. Steam the buns for 10 minutes before eating.

Australia Day Steak & Salad

Green Curry Sirloin

Ingredients:

• 4 Sirloin Steak
• 200g Eggplant Puree
• 500g Green Curry Sauce
• 2 Pickled Onions

Assembly:

1. Barbecue sirloin steak to desired doneness.
2. Halve the pickled onions and char over BBQ.
3. Slice sirloin to desired thickness and serve over eggplant puree with onions.
4. Pour curry sauce over or serve on the side in a gravy bowl.

Green Curry Sauce:

Ingredients:

• 300g Green Curry Paste
• 400g Coconut Milk
• 400g Coconut Cream
• 50g Palm Sugar
• 50g Water
• 25g Oil
• Salt (to taste)

Assembly:

1. In a pot on medium heat, sauté the curry paste in oil until fragrant.
2. Add palm sugar and salt, cook until dissolved.
3. Add water, coconut milk & cream and bring to a boil.
4. Once boiled, reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Season with fish sauce and lime juice.

Som Tum Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 Sliced Ox Heart Tomato
• 100g Som Tum Dressing
• 30g Diced Papaya
• 80g Roasted Crushed Peanut
• 20g Sliced Snake Beans
• Pinch of Dried Shrimp Powder

Som Tum Dressing:

Ingredients:

• 250g Palm Sugar
• 150g Fish Sauce
• 200g Tamarind Water
• 6g Garlic
• 5g Red Birds Eye Chilli
• Lime Juice (to season)

Assembly:

1. In a pot, melt sugar into the fish sauce on low heat.
2. Once dissolved, remove from the heat and add in tamarind water. Leave to cool.
3. Meanwhile, pound garlic and chilli into a fine paste.
4. Add chilli and garlic paste to som tum base and adjust with lime juice to season.