Kangaroo Meat. Describe Your Experience of Consuming It

LordSydney on 20/07/2021 - 14:01

Ah, Australia. We must be one of the few nations in the world which eats our national emblem.

Kangaroo steak, kangaroo mince, kangaroo sausages, excellent source of protein, iron, vitamins and minerals, and low in fat.

While other types of meat have been going up in price, kangaroo meat has remained relatively the same price.

The cheapskate I am, recently purchased kilos of mince, and while the taste is quite palatable, one thing I cannot get over is the smell.

I've tried frying it, boiling it, yet it's the same.

It smells "off".

Like, bad meat "off".

It was well within the use-by date.

I haven't had it in years because I vaguely recall having the same experience of it last time, but I thought I'd give it another try.

Has anyone else experienced this as well?

Poll Options

  • 220
    Love It
  • 27
    Hate it
  • 276
    Meh
  • 28
    I'm Vegan
Food & Grocery

Comments

  • ECE on 20/07/2021 - 22:05

    As an omnivore it is tasty and yum just dont smell it 😷

  • Drakesy on 20/07/2021 - 22:46
    +5

    I honestly dont get the negatives to eating kangaroo mince.

    I think it tastes great, yes it has a smell but so does lamb and given 90% of meat dishes have sauces and condiments to go with it you can barely notice the difference from beef.

    Personally i love it and will eat it every day of the week. 99% more sustainable and better for you.

  • Blargman2001 on 20/07/2021 - 22:53
    +2

    I sometimes have had it at the pub for a change from a steak or schnitzel. It's usually pretty good. You need to spice or marinate it quite heavily before cooking to mask the smell. Don't use the drippings in any sauces either if you don't like the smell.

  • juki on 21/07/2021 - 00:38
    +1

    anyone thrown kangaroo meat in a slow cooker or as a stew?

    i dont mind gamey meat but i must admit the kangaroo sausages were a bit weird.

    if anyone knows where to get horse for human consumption I'll take the lead

    • Emerald Owl on 21/07/2021 - 01:49
      +2

      Slovenia has a big horse burger chain :)

      • juki on 21/07/2021 - 13:36
        +1

        thats a bit far especially during lockdown, somewhere in victoria would be nice (many of my neighbours have horses but they dont look like they'd want to barbecue them)

    • bmxr on 21/07/2021 - 19:57
      +1

      Not quite horse (which I've had in Kazan) but Donkey is available in Sydney!

      https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/manly-daily/sydn…

      I've also had deep fried donkey and sweet and sour camel hump in Mongolia and highly recommend both!

      • juki on 21/07/2021 - 21:03
        +1

        aww poor donkeys

        never tried either donkey nor camel, it seems they slow cook the donkey as they cook it overnight.
        I'd try it but it might be the same difference as goat and mutton

  • Emerald Owl on 21/07/2021 - 01:48
    +2

    Ayers Rock Resort bbq with kangaroo, crocodile and emu.

  • Boostland on 21/07/2021 - 02:35

    But is it gluten free and vagen

    • Drakesy on 21/07/2021 - 11:14
      +1

      But is it gluten free and vagen

      We may be talking eating different types of meat

  • Out24q on 21/07/2021 - 07:45
    +2

    I've had Kangaroo Steak a few times, and I love it. It is a very hard meat to cook though. You can definitely not cook it very long, or else it tastes horrible.

    Never had Roo Mince, however my Greyhounds used to love it back in the day. :)

  • Topdog on 21/07/2021 - 07:58

    Chewy steak I love it. Cooking it on the other hand!

    • DarkOz on 21/07/2021 - 08:28
      +1

      This is a dog eat kangaroo world!

  • HelpMeiCantSee on 21/07/2021 - 08:02
    +1

    Delicious. Needs to be barely cooked though.

  • DarkOz on 21/07/2021 - 08:27
    -1

    Never really tried kangaroo meat. Personally it feels like on the same level to eating dogs so I am not mentally ready to eat them.

    To OP. Try marinating it with rose rice wine. Some people find pork/lamb smelly too and rose rice wine helps a lot.

  • connorlo on 21/07/2021 - 08:29

    Used to love it and eat it all the time (don't remember the smell as an issue). Got gastro one day and it was the last meal I had eaten before that so now I can't face it anymore :(

  • WarCreation on 21/07/2021 - 08:47

    I find cooking on the BBQ helps the taste considerably. Cheap and great protein source.

    I find pan fried and oven baked a touch strong on flavour and I grew up eating wild game.

    • roozmik on 21/07/2021 - 10:03
      +1

      I first had it in uni yrs ago, and an Aboriginal student club was cooking kangaroo steaks on the BBQ and giving it away. It tasted great.

      I've since tried cooking it a number of times and it always tastes very gamey and not so great. I haven't tried BBQ'ing it though.

  • CBrads4 on 21/07/2021 - 09:04
    +3

    I've only cooked kangaroo meat twice in my own home. Once as a steak and once as meatballs. The meatballs were easy enough and I really liked the flavour. Hard to describe though. I ended up putting them with a pasta which I thought was a really interesting addition. The kangaroo steak was a bit harder to get right. It becomes a lot tougher, quicker. If you slightly overcook it, the meat really does become tough.

    The best experience I've ever had though is eating kangaroo tail in an indigenous community. The community cooked it (somewhat) traditionally in hot coal pits dug into the ground. Super tender for what I would've assumed would be one of the toughest parts of the animal's meat. Since I had that maybe 10 or so years ago, I've loved kangaroo meat. Big fan!

  • afah0447 on 21/07/2021 - 09:32

    Pretty gamey taste and too expensive given how many there are and they are culled annually in many areas.

  • ZmbHntr on 21/07/2021 - 10:27
    +4

    I've been eating kangaroo for more than 10 years and it's great for my health. Go for the packets labelled "Kangaroo steak" for the least smell. Use plenty of herbs and/or salt to marinate or cook with.

    The reasons why - as it is a wild caught and organic meat then it's very high in polyunsaturated fats compared to other meats. Polyunsaturated fats are unstable and go off quickly. The smaller pieces the meat is cut up, the faster the polyunsaturated fats go rancid and the worse it smells. The kangaroo mince therefore has the worse smell. "Diced kangaroo" is in between. The "Kangaroo steak" is great cause it's in big chunky pieces. Another problem with the kangaroo mince is that it's in a cryovac packet, denying any oxygen to the meat. Meat needs fresh air to stay fresh, otherwise the aerobic bacteria in it change to anaerobic bacteria. For example, when they age meat in cool rooms it has fresh air blowing on it. Also in the wet markets in Asia they all have fans directly above the meat to constantly provide fresh air. So in summary, that's why I say to choose the kangaroo steak or bigger pieces or kangaroo.

  • jacross on 21/07/2021 - 10:28
    +1

    I really enjoy it. I generally have it as kangaroo mince/rissoles but have had it as a steak.

    The smell you are describing is probably what I would call 'gamey'. It's not an off meat smell, you just aren't used to it and have interpreted it as 'off smell'. I think if you can move passed that initial interpretation you should have a pretty good time.

  • Greem85 on 21/07/2021 - 10:29
    +1

    You are describing a "gamey" smell/taste mate. Kangaroos are wild animals, and their diet consists of what they find, rather than what they have been given to eat by a farmer for 1000 generations.

    Asian cuisine has a trick associated with gamey taste in meat - they use cooking wine to marinade and/or to fry it with. Apparently it pushes that taste into a far background of every bite.

  • AEKaBeer on 21/07/2021 - 10:29

    My wife loves it, I find it mediocre at best. I'm fine with gamy meat but the texture doesn't work for me.

  • Tasmaniac on 21/07/2021 - 10:45

    Coles sell kangaroo patties and they're great. Quick to cook and lots of flavour.

  • Lionchu on 21/07/2021 - 11:08

    I'm gonna buy some kangeroo meat now.

  • RolandWaites on 21/07/2021 - 11:27

    Delicious but is particular about being cooked. Average if not cooked well, brilliant if the person knows how to do it.

  • Sitri on 21/07/2021 - 11:39
    +2

    My friend's father is full koori. He fried up kangaroo and crocodile with veggies and his own sauce and spices, like a stir fry I guess but it was some of the best food I've ever had. I still remember how yummy it was years later.

  • Lionmaru-G on 21/07/2021 - 12:03
    +2

    They use to stock Naturally Wild Croc Meat in Coles or Wolies but cant find them anymore :( much prefer croc meat over chicken.

  • Jules_d1 on 21/07/2021 - 12:19
    +2

    Try the mince with a healthy amount of taco seasoning. You can hardly taste the difference between beef.

    I mind the marinated steaks ok. Just don't cook anything too long!

  • lew380 on 21/07/2021 - 12:34
    -2

    Lean and full of worms, I would avoid it, nothing good about it. Industrially, it might be worm free, I don't know who farms roo for meat.

  • Jill of alltrades on 21/07/2021 - 12:35

    I've cooked kangaroo meat a number of times. The marinated ones usually remove the gamey smell. But for Steak, I would marinate it with a stronger smelling herb, like garlic and lemon (as a few have already mentioned). For mince, try a good glug of red wine. It helps to mask a lot of the gamey smell.

  • Scrobo on 21/07/2021 - 12:39
    +1

    Make a Massamun curry with it in the slow cooker. Gets away from the gamey taste and is very yum.

  • ozfool on 21/07/2021 - 13:37

    I buy kangaroo mince since it's only ~$1 more than beef mince and I guess I think it's funny.

    It tastes fine. It does smell curious when raw but wouldn't describe it as offputting. Load it up with taco spices or whatever and I don't think anyone can taste the difference.

    Unfortunate it's quite lean so I add bacon and/or olive oil to raise the fat content. It's 2020, fat isn't bad for you. Fat is flavour, fat is life.

  • OzHunterNSW on 21/07/2021 - 14:55

    So they found an excuse to slaughter Kangaroos by the likes of those professing to enjoy the meat

  • jv on 21/07/2021 - 15:02
    +1

    Kangaroo Meat. Describe Your Experience of Consuming It

    I cut it first
    Then chew it for a while
    Then swallow it…

    • 2025 on 21/07/2021 - 16:40

      Is that it? What happens after its swallowed?

      • jv on 21/07/2021 - 16:58
        +2

        I poo it…

        • this is us on 21/07/2021 - 19:17

          You've skipped several steps there…

          • jv on 21/07/2021 - 19:38
            +1

            @this is us: It went straight through…

            • LordSydney on 21/07/2021 - 20:41

              @jv: hahaha I love ozbargain. your replies are always amusing.

  • WT on 21/07/2021 - 15:06

    used to eat it a bit but got some marinated stuff from the woolies, they put a lot of bi carb to tenderize it and it put me off it. It leads me to believe they are just using any rubbish cut instead of processing that into dog food etc

  • Munki on 21/07/2021 - 15:12

    Cooked right, it's bloody great.

  • asafasr on 21/07/2021 - 15:20

    Tastes really bad. Vomit inducing bad.

  • TheTinMan on 21/07/2021 - 16:23
    +1

    Kangaroo Meat ???

    No thanks - ill think I will…………….Skip !

    • TheTinMan on 21/07/2021 - 20:07

      Another Joke that went down like a lead balloon

  • Flying Ace on 21/07/2021 - 17:10

    My wife and I regularly buy the kangaroo sizzle steaks from Woolworths or Coles. We marinade them for a little while with olive oil, salt, pepper and mixed herbs and then fry them for 1-2 minutes on each side. Absolutely delicious and often cheaper than beef steaks.

  • gromit on 21/07/2021 - 17:14

    We source our own roo meat. It is only the back straps we use for us, any other part is too tough. Makes awesome chilli roo pies.

    • LordSydney on 21/07/2021 - 20:44

      Nice. But, no worms? I don't know where the stuff in the shops is sourced from but I used to be super sceptical about it as I heard the wild ones were riddled.

      • gromit on 22/07/2021 - 15:42
        +1

        Wild ones "can" be riddled. It is very much dependent on the area. Most of what is in the supermarkets and butchers is wild harvested

  • dtorr on 21/07/2021 - 18:53
    +1

    Love it. Personaly the fillets are my favourite quickly seared with butter and garlic. I ended up going through the process with DEHP to harvest my own to save paying the high price for it (which is purely due to the red tape involved).

  • berry580 on 21/07/2021 - 19:14

    I'm surprised by the poll in how many people like it.
    I've never had good experience with kangaroo meat.

  • Pacify on 21/07/2021 - 19:48

    Its okay.

    Really depends what you are doing with it, you can't just treat it like prime steak

  • Tiredman on 21/07/2021 - 21:17

    Hate it. Can't take the smell.

  • srr on 21/07/2021 - 21:40

    I like the flavour. We mostly eat mince.

  • jonagrah on 21/07/2021 - 22:14
    -3

    I'm vegan! Death to all meat eaters!

  • dpark88 on 21/07/2021 - 22:55

    The most effective way of removing the gamey taste from any meat is to soak it in milk (full cream tends to work best) for at least a day or two if you can.

    Rinse with water, pat dry, and cook as you would normally.

  • the Unforgiven on 21/07/2021 - 22:56

    Used to make me self rooburgers by the camp fire with me trusty cast iron pan
    I love the roo meat. You pat it out to the size of the bun & she doesn't shrink
    It's a bonza beauty

  • MrDixit on 21/07/2021 - 23:21

    Try this: http://aussiecooking.com.au/Kangaroo-tacos/ (lemon or lime marinade softens the flavour a lot. Go easy on the pepper - I had no idea how much stronger pepper corns get when you toast them!)

    Or do a slow cook Bolognese with equal amounts meat and lentils, with lots of veg grated so it mixes with the meat (zucchini, eggplant, carrots, mushroom). Start by frying up bacon, garlic, onion, celery, then brow the meat, then add the grated veg, some tinned and fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, etc. Slow cook softens the meat and it's not as gamey. I do this in a pressure cooker too, but the meat has too strong a texture for my kids that way. Slow cooker melts it.

  • acersaurus on 22/07/2021 - 07:55

    Ive eaten a lot of it as it's pretty healthy. Agree with the other posts, gamey taste. Inferior in taste to beef or lamb but to me it's acceptable.

  • imperialdramon on 22/07/2021 - 09:23

    Love it. It's lean, tender and has a strong flavour. Just don't cook it too much and you'll have an excellent steak.

  • imperialdramon on 22/07/2021 - 09:25

    The biggest truth about cooking is: there is no bad ingredient. There is only bad cookers.

  • Dowhatuwant on 22/07/2021 - 09:38

    If it's rare/blue it's great, if it's medium rare plus then its horribly chewy. Has a good flavor though.

  • huggsymersh on 22/07/2021 - 11:46

    I would marinate the fillets in olive oil, soy sauce and lemon juice with lots of garlic for a few hours. Then cook quickly at high heat. Let sit for a little while afterwards. Seared near crispy outside with tender rare inside. Then cut across the grain, like lamb cutlets. Kangaroo is very lean so easy to overcook, as most people here seem to know.

    Kangaroo seemed the perfect meat to eat to me for a while, as it's free range organic meat that lives a relatively free life until the animal gets killed (without the suffering of factory farming). But I was put off a little by the rather ad hoc, less regulated slaughtering process and risk of parasites etc. Not entirely sure about the relative risk.

  • L45TPH45E on 22/07/2021 - 11:56

    I really like them in burgers

  • Cheap Cheep on 22/07/2021 - 12:25

    I will often substitute the beef for kangaroo in a Thai beef salad. Roo meat works well with the fish and soy sauce marinade.

  • citybargainhunter on 22/07/2021 - 12:41
    +1

    I remember having it for the first time at the revolving restaurant in Centre Point Tower (now AMP tower) and that was also the last time.

  • hopper on 22/07/2021 - 13:53

    I love Skippy, why would I eat it 😜

  • lunartemis on 22/07/2021 - 17:50

    I noticed you have to marinate in oil if you are cooking steak as it can easily dry out and go tough.
    I generally use the mince for spagbog or lasagna

    • adn on 22/07/2021 - 21:33

      Use for spagbowl too.

  • 42 on 22/07/2021 - 20:17

    Kangaroo is best when it's rare otherwise it's tough. Stopped eating it when I found out because they are wild, there is a risk of parasites and toxoplasmosis unless you cook it to buggery or should I say leathery.

  • justgooddeals on 22/07/2021 - 21:38

    Kanga tough. T-bone any day. Red and 🩸 and still kicking on the plate

  • Cheapsize on 22/07/2021 - 21:39
    +1

    Needs to be cooked rare and with a sauce and it's got that beef texture and a great flavour. Almost the same taste as like a roast but way less beefy aftertaste ? It can go with Sauces that would have been nice with pork. If you overcook it, it's quite rank but sublime if rare. Definitely should be monitored when cooked do not over cook you will have a bad time.

  • GrueHunter on 22/07/2021 - 21:47
    +1

    Can't stand the smell of it cooking. Sous vide solved all of that - into the bag with some rosemary, quick sear in a pan with oil and butter, doesn't smell.

  • LoserScott on 22/07/2021 - 22:17
    +1

    Prefer camel meat, much leaner, however roo meats like chicken thighed dark meat, bitey not tender, and a very strong smell.

  • StalkingIbis on 23/07/2021 - 07:24

    I had it at brazillian bbq and loved it.

    Never had it elsewhere.

  • nikey2k27 on 23/07/2021 - 09:09

    It Game meat i love it cook little on pink side never smell off but dose have very Game meat smell un like chicken.

  • rattler on 23/07/2021 - 10:31

    Ah the kangaroo Tartare at Rice paper Scissors in melbourne CBD. Love it.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join