CORNED WAGYU SILVERSIDE WITH SLOW-COOKED CARROTS & MUSTARD SAUCE

Serves 4

This dish reminds me of my childhood. My father would cook corned beef all the time and we loved it with white sauce, mustard on the side and cauliflower and boiled carrots. It was one of Dad’s favourite dishes and I was pretty happy when I knew it was on for dinner. We corn our own beef at the restaurant — the advantage of having whole bodies of Wagyu and an in-house butcher. If you don’t want to corn your own silverside, you can buy it already corned from a good butcher — it’s possible to even find corned Wagyu. At the restaurant we vacuum-seal the silverside and court-bouillon in a Cryovac bag and steam it in our Combi Oven at 70°C (158°F) for 18 hours.

You will need to begin this recipe 2 weeks ahead.

CORNED WAGYU SILVERSIDE

1 x 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) piece of raw Wagyu silverside

400 g (14 oz) sea salt

6 g (¹/₅ oz) sodium nitrate (see note)

1 quantity court-bouillon

To brine the silverside, combine it with the salt and sodium nitrate and 2 litres (70 fl oz) of water in a container, making sure the beef is completely submerged. Cover and refrigerate for 2 weeks.

Following this, remove the corned beef and discard the brine. Place the beef in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a simmer, then drain and repeat simmering with fresh water 3 more times. (If you are using already corned beef, you will need to do this blanching step too.)

Place the blanched silverside in a saucepan over medium–low heat. Add the court-bouillon and just enough water to cover and gently simmer for 3 hours or until tender.

NOTE

Sodium nitrate is available from butcher stores and online.

COURT-BOUILLON

1 carrot, julienne

1 brown onion, sliced

1 stalk celery, julienne

1 fresh bay leaf

2 black peppercorns

200 ml (7 fl oz) dry white wine

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Place the siphon in a warm water bath until ready to serve.

MUSTARD SAUCE

You’ll need a 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cup) heat-sensitive cream siphon and cartridges for this recipe.

25 g (1 oz) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour

100 ml (3½ fl oz) veal stock

½ tablespoon crème fraîche

2 g (1 / 16 oz) mustard powder

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Combine the butter and flour in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until golden. Gradually whisk in the stock and 300 ml (10½ fl oz) of water and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the crème fraîche, mustard powder, Dijon mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce into a cream siphon and screw on the lid. Screw in a cartridge to aerate the sauce, then shake vigorously.

Place the siphon in a warm water bath until ready to serve.

TO SERVE

4 organic carrots inspired by St. John

Remove the corned Wagyu silverside from the court-bouillon and cut into 4 pieces. Place a piece of beef on each plate with a slow-cooked carrot and pump some mustard sauce from the siphon alongside.