Venison Tartare Dubbed "S E X Y"

By NZ Chef Si@ChefSarawak




This was AHCTS L5 Cookery first batch students' final assessment entree recipe. I remember during our verification, everyone was given a small piece of venison to create their own recipe. I was the only one in class who created a raw version accompanied with "red" sauce.  

There was a very interesting episode during half-way when I prepared the "red sauce," when my chef tutor suddenly discovered I produced something very unusual in the pot than the rest of the class, he sternly asked me, "WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR RED COLORING?" He got all excited when he saw red,  often his exclusive restaurant's parking lot parked a dozen of those expensive red cars reflected like my red sauce, that's one of his signature colors! Being colorful and never forget about edible flowers garnishing during plating has turned him into one of the most successful commercial caterers in New Zealand. I looked at him with my innocence panda eyes purred, "Chef, from your given beetroot." The minute I turned my head, he already disappeared. LOL, that's my Chef Awesome!

And finally when I presented my "creation," he said a word that really made everyone laugh, "S E X Y!" And when I showed the picture to my celebrity chef's mentor over the yonder land, he pulled my leg as well, "Yes, S E X Y!"  In short, the first time in culinary world's history, the word S E X Y was used to describe a dish through this venison tartare! At last, I must say "Thank You" to my term members to select this venison tartare to represent our team's assessment life service.

Entrée Recipe

Red Deer Venison (Tartare)

Sugar & herb crusted w/beetroot relish, confit of tomato, bush nuts, avocado, herb salad

Menu designed by Chef Craig Scholten

Recipe created by Si Wong

Ingredients (1 portion):

Tomato confit:

1 chunk tomato, concase, cut into brunoise, confit

1/8 clove garlic, confit

½ tsp mixed herbs of parsley and coriander, confit

½ tsp olive oil, confit

A pinch sugar

TT Salt and pepper

Brush Nuts:

½ tsp Macadamia, shaved, garnishing

½ tsp hazelnuts, shaved, garnishing

A pinch ground pine nuts

Herb Salad:

½ Handful spinach, herb salad (Trim off stems)

A pinch coriander, herbal salad 

 A pinch plucked parsley leaves, herb salad

½ tbsp Tomato julienne, herbal salad

1 tablespoon olive oil, salad dressing

½ clove garlic, minced, salad dressing

A pinch lemon zest, salad dressing

½  tsp vinegar, salad dressing

¼ tsp mash olive, salad dressing

A pinch sugar, salad dressing

TT Salt and pepper

Venison (Tartare):

1 tsp pine nut, ground, tartare

25g venison, diced into fine brunoise, tartare

½  pinch Cayenne, tartare

½  pinch turmeric, tartare

½ tsp shallot, fine brunoise, tartare

¼ clove garlic, mince, tartare

¼  tsp rice vinegar, tartare

½ tsp Avocado oil, tartare

½ tsp olive oil, tartare

1 tsp Pasley, finely chopped, tartare

¼ tsp Black olive, mash, tartare

½ pinch brown sugar, tartare

½ tsp Djon mustard

½ tsp Japanese soy sauce

TT Salt and pepper

Avocado: (Salsa)

1.5 tbsp avocado, cubes, avocado

1 tsp baby coriander, avocado

1 tsp tomato, cubes, avocado

¼ wedge of lemon(juice), avocado

1  tbsp avocado or olive oil, avocado

2 drops Tabasco sauce

TT Salt and pepper

Sugar & Herbs crusted w/Beetroot Relish:

2 tbsp beetroot, cubes, relish

½ tsp brown sugar, relish

1 tsp ginger candy, fine brunoise, relish

½ shallot, fine brunoise, relish

1 sprig thyme, relish

1 sprig rosemary, relish

A pinch coriander, relish

2 tsp brown sugar, relish

100 ml water, relish

½  Black olive, minced, relish

¼  tsp butter, roux, beetroot sauce

¼  tsp flour, roux, beetroot sauce

2 tbsp Sieved beetroot jus (from relish)

Garnishing:

A flower

Method:

Beetroot relish and beetroot sauce

1.       Boil water with vinegar, sugar, shallot, beetroot cubes, herbs, until soft (not too soft). Discard the herbs if necessary, sieve and reserve the beetroot jus

2.       Cook the roux

3.       To prepare the beetroot sauce, thicken the jus with ¼  tsp of roux to nape consistency

Confit of tomato:

1.       Concase tomato and cut into brunoise, add olive oil, sugar (optional), garlic,  herbs, salt and pepper, rest

Herb salad and dressing:

1.       Half handful spinach, mixed with tomato julienne, mixed herbs of baby coriander and parsley

2.       Prepare salad dressing by mixing olive oil, minced garlic, olive mash, vinegar, lemon zest, salt and pepper

3.       Mix the salad with dressing

Bush nuts:

1.       Shave macadamia and hazel nuts and add ground pine nuts

Avocado:

1.       Dice avocado and tomato into cubes, mix with baby coriander, lemon juice, oil, season with salt and pepper

Tartare:

1.       Dice venison into fine brunoise, add cayenne, turmeric, avocado oil, olive oil, brown sugar, Japanese soy sauce, Dijon mustard, parsley, vinegar, shallot, garlic, black olive, pine nuts, season with salt and pepper. Cover, label, chill immediately.

Plating:

1.       Draw a beetroot sauce line across center of a round plate

2.       Place a ring mould  near the center, add beetroot relish to the bottom, press

3.       Add avocado salsa, press

4.       Add tartare, press

5.       Top up with herb salad, garnish with a flower

6.       At the side of the plate, make five dots with tomato confit

7.       Sprinkle shaved nuts across but opposite of beetroot sauce line

Pictures: Three different versions of Red Deer Venison Tartare, each dish changed slightly due to available of ingredients during each mise en place session.

Minimalism: Less is More

 

By NZ Chef Si@ChefSarawak

It's probably one of the smallest culinary schools in New Zealand, but here it crouches some of the fiercest and most experience tigers and dragons of chef scene, and it equally fostered some fearless culinary students dared to challenge or dared to break all rules.

Dare to break all rules in the culinary world? I have witnessed some of that happened already with my "eyes wide shut"; in short, if there was no Adam, there wouldn't be an Eve. With the help of Adam, Eve always could walk through back door, save 10 years time to climb ladder to be a somebody in a commercial kitchen, and for international students you don't need to further your study as NZ level 5 students.

So whatever they told you that you are inexperience that's why they won't take you as even a commi chef, I considered it as the biggest BS in the chef industry!!! They tried to tell all chef school students about it, but if those twenty over year old girls who walked backdoor wouldn't believe it, why I have to believe it?

Chef Awesome has become a poor guinea pig now, I saw him sitting in a class sitting for Advanced Cookery Diploma of London City Guild Exam, and in school  kitchen now, a selected group of my classmates are cooking brunch for a hundred over guests led by a pretty new chef tutor, she came in the class yesterday, I stared at her for just a minute, I asked her, "Chef, are you a Libra?" And bingo I guessed it right, and Chef Awesome told her, "Now you better get out here as soon as possible before Si found out everything about you in three minutes time!"

This morning my classmates decided to revenge on team 1 classmates, because during last week life service, some of them even pressed 5 orders/person to make us so busy, but my classmates never thought that "such increase volume of sales" actually made us became last week's winner. They wanted to eat at 10am and 1130am. I have to calculate now, at 19:00 how many round of jogging will be able to burn off my calories.

Lots of Asian love McDonald's big breakfast all because they didn't know how to make that crumpet, but actually all Chinese did the similar version except they steamed it and used rice powder instead.  You can call crumpet as English muffin as well. I think crumpet is  an ideal symbolic starch served that could represent minimalism - less is more. It's an effortless and cheapest  preparation, but French yeast is a must as one of its ingredients, for my modify version, you just take out a baking pan, cut few pieces of butter, add warmed water, once it got melted, add yeast, sugar and salt, lastly you add flour and milk for batter consistency, the secret is you have to keep mixing, so you won't get a crumpet that stuck to your teeth when you bite it. Next you just place your half-filled baking pan into an oven. Let it sits there overnight, next morning you would see the batter has risen to the top, take the baking pan out. Turn on oven to 200C preheat it,      5 minutes later, place the baking pan into the oven. Spray some water, let it bakes for 15 minutes. Let it rests for another 15 minutes. 

What more do you want for your breakfast? Freshly baked crumpet, plum jam from your last summer backyard plum  harvest and a cup of freshly brewed French style coffee? You know now why I think I have been over-eating since early morning! I did run the circle  next to a round volcanic cone empty flower patch for 15 minutes, that about a kilometer run in the early morning, I wouldn't have that endurance just a month ago, but if you were sad or missing someone, I realized such sadness or yearning hormone could give me magical endurance!

Salmon Tartare Recipe Created by NZ Chef Si

Once I was a NZ Air-flown Salmon Fish Monger!

Written by NZ Chef Si@Chef Sarawak

No joke, that's one of my exclusive gourmet food items sold  under my unregistered retail business all because I was staying in a small town, where gourmet food were rare, but my gourmet foods sold so well all because my real professional reputation was branded like Wagyu A5 in such once a small town.

I ended up got to know all the custom officers in its international airport, people came to collect their parcels with vans and trucks, but I drove a flashy coupe to pick up NZ air-flown salmon, I gave good tips to overworked custom officers, some of you might think I tried to bride them, no I didn't need to bride them that's their job, but they were a group of friendly men when they saw me coming their eyes shined brightly and happily, if I could bring happiness to them why not bought them a drink even could make them happier? Don't you think I got a typical restaurateur's mentality since a long long time ago!

I have at least a half dozen salmon tartare recipes created since the days  I became the part-time salmon fish monger. 

This is the latest version I created for NZ level 5 cookery study, if I said it's nice and my Chef Awesome agreed, two Libras both supported each other, you could tell our kitchen shines more than any kitchen in any chef school on earth! 

I posted this signature salmon tartare all because my classmate needs this recipe and methods for our upcoming service. She told me she has never prepared salmon tartare before, and she was so eager to prepare it, I wish her the best of luck. She is helping me to promote my recipe, thank you chef!

Salmon Tartare 

 

Created by NZ Chef Si 

 

 Ingredients (2 portions for smaller size ring mould)

100g Salmon (Tartare, dice to 1/2cm)

1 tbsp Olive oil (Tartare)

2g/A pinch Turmeric (Seasoning)

½ tsp Sumac (Seasoning)

¼ tsp Wasabi powder (Seasoning)

1 tbsp Daikon (Mince for Tartare)

1 tsp Japanese Kikkoman Soy Sauce (Seasoning)

1 tbsp Pine nuts (Finely grind a tsp for Tartare, the rest for garnishing)

2g cayenne (Seasoning)

2g Palm sugar (Seasoning, shave finely)

TT Salt and Pepper

Baby coriander & pine nuts (Garnish)

10g Parsley (Chiffonade, I tsp for Tartare, garnishing)

10g Chives (Chiffonade, 1 tsp for Tartare, garnishing)

Methods:

1.    Get rid of salmon skin and check pin bones, dice the salmon

2.    Season with daikon mince, olive oil, sumac, turmeric, palm sugar, soy sauce, parsley, cayenne, chives, ground pine nuts, season with salt and pepper, mix well

3.    Spoon the mixture into a ring mould before serving

4.    Top up Tartare with baby coriander and pine nuts