Rockpool signature wagyu sliders

Neil Perry delivers this mouth-watering recipe for wagyu sliders. An ideal party food to please adults and children alike, the addition of rich wagyu beef makes these tiny burgers a show stopper. You will need 8 toothpicks to secure the sliders. Leftover relish will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 weeks.

• serves

  8

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1:50 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 small speck rashers 
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 400 g coarsely minced Blackmore wagyu beef, seasoned, shaped into 8 patties
• 2 thin slices Gruyère, cut into quarters
• 8 brioche slider rolls, halved, toasted
• 40 g Zuni pickles (see Note) or store-bought pickles
• 40 g pickled red onion

Tomato chilli relish

• 300 g ripe vine-ripened tomatoes, blanched, peeled
• 2 tsp olive oil
• ½ onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• ¼ red capsicum, seeded, chopped
• 1 cm-piece ginger, finely chopped
• 100 ml apple cider vinegar
• 45 g caster sugar
• 40 g brown sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 clove
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 5 bird's-eye chillies, finely chopped

Drink 2011 Saltram Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley, SA ($30)

Instructions

To make tomato chilli relish, halve tomatoes, remove seeds and chop into 2 cm pieces. Set aside. Heat oil in large, heavy-based pan over low heat. Add onion, garlic, capsicum and ginger, and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until onion is soft and lightly browned. Add tomatoes, a pinch of salt and remaining relish ingredients to pan, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until mixture thickens (be careful that relish does not stick to base of pan). Discard cloves and cinnamon quill. Allow to cool, then transfer mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate until needed.

Heat an overhead grill to high heat and grill speck, turning once, for 10 minutes or until slightly crisp. Cut each rasher into 4 pieces to create 8 small pieces in total. Set aside.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook wagyu patties, turning once, for 6 minutes for medium-rare or until cooked to your liking. Place a piece of cheese on the top of each patty, place on a foil-lined oven tray under an overhead grill and grill for 30 seconds or until cheese has melted.

Place cheese-topped patties on top of bottom halves of buns. Top with Zuni pickles, 2 tbsp tomato chilli relish, speck and pickled red onion. Cover with bun tops and secure each slider with a toothpick.

Note

• Neil Perry’s Zuni pickles are served on his wagyu burgers at Rockpool Bar & Grill and are adapted from the pickles at San Francisco’s renowned Zuni Café. Substitute with any other pickles.

Photography Chris Chen

As seen in Feast magazine, June 2014, Issue 32. For more recipes and articles, pick up a copy of this month's Feast magazine or check out our great subscriptions offers here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.