Beef rump cap tataki prepared by Chef Rishi Naleendra

Beef rump cap tataki by Chef Rishi Naleendra

We were lucky enough to have Chef Rishi Naleendra preparing Westholme beef rump cap for all of our chef guests at the recent Singapore Launch.

A humble and talented chef, Rishi began his career in Melbourne’s Taxi Dining Room in Australia where he worked his way up to Sous Chef.  From there he moved to Sydney to work as Chef de Partie at Tetsuya’s before moving to the award-winning Yellow. Rishi then relocated to Singapore to head up Maca before proudly opening his own restaurant within the Unlisted Collection group.

We caught up with Rishi before the event to find out his thoughts on Wagyu beef and Australian beef and his dish for the launch of Westholme.

 

 

What dish have you chosen tonight?

‘Tonight I’ll be cooking a Beef Tataki using Westholme beef rump cap with fermented soy and a little apple salad.

It’s pretty much seared outside and thinly sliced. It’s a raw dish and I chose that dish looking at the marbling score of the beef and I think it’s really nice to eat it raw. We ferment our own soy for this dish and the crisp apple is used to refresh the palate.

So today I’m using a rump cap from Westholme beef. It has a very nice marbling very even and the texture I really like and the flavour is great too.’

What do your customers look for when they order beef?

‘When we purchase beef we look for a really nice even marbling throughout the beef and of course really nice flavour.

Our customers look for a very nice flavour in the beef and a really nice texture, especially if they’re having a steak, like they would like a really nice texture through that as much as they’d like a really nice flavour.’

What do you look for when you purchase beef?

‘I personally love steaks. I love eating beef. I guess for me especially I didn’t eat beef up until probably I’m 20 and since I’ve started eating beef it’s my favourite thing to eat.

I was a pescetarian. Only when I started cooking I started eating beef and I had a job. For the first time I started eating proper beef when I started there as an apprentice. And since then I love beef, really good quality beef.

If I eat beef I sort of like a bit of texture in the beef not super tender and super melting in my mouth. I think a bit of texture brings out a lot of flavour in the beef.’

 

Find out more about the Singapore launch dishes here.