Inside Dragonfly: Wellington’s vibrant modern Asian

Nestled in the middle of one of Wellington’s busiest streets, Dragonfly is the home of Asian cuisine in the capital city. Founded by siblings and local hospitality leaders Brent Wong and Tania Siladi, Dragonfly combines their passion for food and design, creating a sleek, gorgeous space filled with time-honoured Asian dishes with a modern twist.

In Dragonfly’s kitchen, gas is key – it’s essential to their fast-paced, high-quality cooking. 

“Gas gives us instant heat control,” explains Brent. “We can quickly adjust the flame, which is vital when we’re searing meat or getting sauces just right. The ability to control temperature so quickly is a big advantage in a busy kitchen like ours.”

The even heat distribution is also key to getting their dishes perfect. “With gas, there are no hotspots or uneven cooking,” Brent adds. “Everything cooks consistently, which is especially important for delicate dishes or when we’re making large batches.”

For Dragonfly, gas isn’t just practical – it’s efficient. “We’ve found gas cooking is incredibly energy-efficient, too. It heats pots and pans directly and quickly, meaning reduced cooking times and, consequently, lowering our energy costs.”

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The Dragonfly experience

Dragonfly’s menu is all about taking classic, time-honoured Asian dishes and giving them a modern twist. To give you a taste of the Dragonfly experience, they have shared one of their very own crowd-favourite dishes… salmon two ways.

Dragonfly’s Salmon 2 Ways

This dish is exceptional for summer outdoor cooking, but it’s not out of place in winter using a griddle pan. The nahm jim is a very hot dressing, so if you prefer less heat, but still enjoy the flavours of nahm jim, replace it with nouc cham.

Ingredients

SALMON

• 800g fresh salmon fillet
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp sugar
• hand full of manuka wood chips
• pinch of green tea leaves

NAHM JIM

• 100ml fish sauce
• 90g palm sugar, crushed
• 15g coriander root
• 1-2 birds eye chilli
• 7g garlic, peeled and crushed
• 25ml lime juice
• 25ml lemon juice

• 320g cucumber
• 80g under-ripe green banana
• 20g Vietnamese mint leaves
• 20g coriander leaves
• 20g mint leaves
• 200g mung bean sprouts

• 20g Puffed rice
• 120ml nahm jim
• crispy shallot

Instructions

Debone the salmon and trim off any thin, fatty portions to ensure there are 4 equal-sized fillets, placing the trim into a bowl. The trim should amount to 200g. Lightly sprinkle the trim with 1 part salt and 3 parts sugar and chill for 1-2 hours to cure.

Once the trim is cured, place the woodchips and green tea in a food smoker. Leave the trim to smoke and cook for about 8 minutes. Refrigerate until needed. 

Place the fish sauce and plam sugar into a pot and heat over low heat until the palm sugar has dissolved, but do not let it come to a boil, then remove from the heat and let it cool. Finely slice the coriander and chilli. Add these with the garlic and lemon and lime juice to the nahm jim and stir to combine. Refrigerate until needed.

Using a mandolin or grater, finely shred the cucumber into a bowl. Peel the green banana with a knife and slice thinly, add this to the cucumber. Then add the Vietnamese mint, coriander, mint and mung beans. Mix to combine with a wooden spoon. 

Season the 4 salmon portions with sea salt approximately 6 minutes prior to cooking and preheat grill to high. Lightly oil the grill and cook salmon for 2-3 minutes on all sides. While salmon is cooking, gently flake the smoked trim into the salad and mix through 120ml of the nahm jim. Evenly divide the salad between four bowls and place a piece of the grilled salmon on top. Sprinkle puffed rice and crispy shallots over each to finish. If you have extra nahm jim it will keep in the refrigerator for a week.