First and foremost, my role as a chef is to respect the product. When you have a premium meat like Westholme wagyu it’s about accentuating its qualities and not doing too much to it.
With this dish, it’s all about letting that ribeye shine: trimming it carefully, seasoning it well, cooking it slowly and searing it hard. It needs a good long rest too, before being carved across the grain. The robust mushroom XO adds another dimension without cloaking or masking anything about the wagyu. The sweetness and spice in the XO work well with the rendered fat in the wagyu: it’s a layering of flavours with just two elements.
1 Westholme OP Rib / Bone-In Ribeye, at room temperature
100g Mushroom XO Sauce
150ml vegetable oil
500g peeled garlic, shaved finely on mandolin
250g ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1kg shallots, peeled and finely sliced
40g dried chilli, soaked, drained and finely chopped
500g dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked, drained and chopped
300g enoki mushrooms
1kg caster sugar
1 litre oyster sauce
500ml Healthy Boy soy sauce
1 litre Shaoxing wine
Warm the oil in a heavy-based pan.
Once the oil is warm, add shaved garlic and toast until lightly fragrant.
Add the ginger, shallot and chilli and sweat with no colour.
Add the mushrooms to the pan and sweat gently so they release their liquid. Evaporate excess liquid.
Add the sugar and liquids to the pan and bring to a simmer, making sure the sugar dissolves fully.
Check the seasoning, remove from heat and allow to cool.
If the mix needs a little acid, add a squeeze of lemon juice to balance.
Cool and store in the fridge, use as desired.
Prepare barbecue in advance, ensuring you have even, nicely glowing coals. Be careful because the meat will release fat during the cooking process.
Season meat generously with salt and cracked pepper, brush with oil and place on the grill.
Char nicely before turning to char all over, using heat not flames. Once charred all over, remove from the heat. After a few minutes, return to the grill, repeating this process until you reach an internal temperate of 52C/125F. At this point allow the meat to rest for at least 20 minutes.
Warm the Mushroom XO Sauce whilst the rib rests (add some chopped chives or garlic chives if you like).
Flash the rib back over the barbecue before carving the meat. Arrange on a plate and spoon over the XO sauce so that it falls through all the slices.