Wagyu Sirloin, Cherry Compote, Black Garlic, Micro Bush Turnips and Smoked Blackberries - Chef Recipe by Jason Ludwig

Ingredients

4kg Grade 5 Wagyu Sirloin
1 head black garlic
6 whole Brussel sprouts
1 punnet blackberries
8 whole peeled eschallots
5 cloves garlic
1 Tbs fresh truffle or truffle oil
250g Kewpie mayo
10 whole Desiree potatoes
1 tsp caraway seeds
20 micro bush turnips
1 punnet pitted cherries
1L balsamic
10 cardamom pods
4 cinnamon quills
4 star anise
500g white sugar
150g Applewood chips
1 punnet oyster leaf
100mL extra virgin olive oil

Method

Wagyu:

Clean sirloin by trimming all the outer layers of fat, so you only see the red flesh of the Wagyu.

Slice into 8cm portions and lay flat on a board. Cut again down the middle lengthways to create 2 long, thin pieces.

Place into cryovac bags and seal so they are airtight.

Set up a sous vide with either a powered motor or a thermometer in a pot. Set sous vide to 30 C internal and sit Wagyu in bath until it reaches temperature. If using a pot, take the thermometer up to 80 C and turn off heat.

Let Wagyu sit in the water for about 20 minutes.

This technique is not designed to completely cook the meat. It will simply start to set the proteins to hold the shape and allow for roasting, when it is time to serve.

Once the Wagyu has been sous vide, while still warm, seal in a hot seasoned pan to create a caramelised meat flavour, rather than boiled beef.

Only seal the 2 thin sides and make sure you season well. At this stage, the meat should be just under rare.
Place in the refrigerator until ready to cook.

Cherry compote:

Place 250g sugar, cardamom, star anise, cinnamon and balsamic in a pot and reduce by half.

Once reduced, strain the syrup to remove all seeds and quills.

In a pot, place 250g sugar, 250mL water and 250mL balsamic syrup. Dissolve sugar, remove from heat, allow to cool. Add roughly chopped deseeded cherries to syrup.

Reduce until large bubbles form and the liquid has reduced by about half.

Set aside and cool.

Once cool the mix should be nice and sticky.

Black garlic sauce:

In a medium metal bowl, place Kewpie mayo, grated truffle or oil.

Cut the black garlic bulb across the middle to separate the top from the bottom and to expose the membranes, so it is easy to remove the cloves from the skin.

Squeeze the half bulbs and discard the skin.

Add to other ingredients and whisk well until combined and season well.

Place in a piping bag to serve.

Potato fondant:

Square off potatoes and cut into 2cm x 3cm portions, enough for 2 each plate.

Very lightly dry fry caraway seeds to release oil.

Place potato in a pan with caraway seeds, peeled eschallots (cut in half) and 4 cloves of garlic.

Add enough water to the pan to cover the potatoes and season well.

Cook on a low heat until the potato is becoming soft, but still retaining its structure.

Place aside to cool, until ready for use.

Smoked blackberries:

Use an old tray and cooling rack to fit, make sure you do not mind burning it, this will be your tray for anything you wish to smoke.

Place Applewood chips in the bottom of the tray evenly and not heaped.

Place the rack on top, in between 2 sheets of baking paper, place your blackberries, 1 sliced eschallot and 1 sliced clove of garlic, season.

Cover the whole tray with foil, making sure no baking paper is exposed and no foil is hanging where it can be burnt.

You will need to tightly tuck the foil under the rim of the tray for safety.

Place on high flame for 2 minutes, then on low for 2 minutes, then turn off and leave on the stove to let the heat and smoke infuse as much as possible for about 10 minutes.

Set aside ready for serving.

Micro turnips:

Cut across the bottom to remove the green stems and form a stable base to sit on, make sure you retain the root which will be kept for presentation.

Place on a tray with oil and seasoning and roast on high for 5 to 10 minutes until becoming soft.

Brussel sprouts:

Cut across the root to allow the removal of the individual leaves and repeat till all the larger leaves are removed.

Place on a tray with oil and seasoning and roast on high for 2 minutes until the edges of the leaves turn brown.

To serve:

Place the Wagyu in a medium oven for 5 to 10 minutes until it is hot, this should bring the Wagyu to medium rare.

Place the potato in the oven to heat again and just before plating, place the vegetables in to warm as well.

Remove the Wagyu from the oven and rest for a few minutes, cut a thin strip off one of the flat non-sealed sides, to expose the medium rare meat, this will be the presentation side.

Remove the potato fondant from the oven and place at an angle at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock on the plate.

Add 1 teaspoon of cherry compote on outer corner of each potato, so it drips off the edge.

Place 1 blackberry on the side of each potato.

Place 1 turnip on the other side of the potato.

This accentuates the size and shape of the Wagyu and creates the colour, balance and flow the dish requires.

From here you need to use more of a scatter technique to fill in the gaps around the potato and next to the Wagyu, with piped circles of black garlic, Brussel sprouts and the oyster leaf.

Recipe provided by Passion Ate the Chef

Photo Credits: Jimmy Wong