Chris Cosentino's Kombu Dry-Aged Coulotte with Angry Shrimp on the Barbie & Little Gems
Chris Cosentino
Chris Cosentino
Chef and adventurer, Chris Cosentino co-owns Acacia House in Napa Valley, California, and Rosalie in Houston, Texas. He’s known for his focus on sustainability and whole animal cookery. “Inspiration is everywhere,” he says. “It comes from walking through a museum and seeing a unique brush stroke or a mobile moving with just enough wind from the people walking by. For me, it's riding my bike. I will smell wild fennel, see fresh bay leaves, pick beautiful spruce tips. Those things make my brain move, they trip a switch.”
A lot of dishes I do have a history or narrative component to them. With this surf ‘n’ turf coulotte (or rump cap), I’m having a dig at the Aussie idea of ‘shrimps on the barbie’. Having said that, rather than barbecuing the shrimp, I cook them in rendered wagyu fat with five types of chilli. That’s the ‘angry’ bit!
But way before we get to that, I’ll be aging the coulotte in kombu sheets for seven days. The natural salt in the kombu starts to break the meat down, giving it a lot of depth and character and accentuating that surf ‘n’ turf element. When it’s time to cook, the wagyu is roasted in the kombu too: the fat will render off and while the meat is resting, I’ll use the fat to cook the shrimp. The kombu adds salinity to the meat and also the fat: there’s this real umami depth and another level of oceanic quality.
Ingredients
Dry-Aged Coulotte
Dry-Aged Coulotte
1 x 2.3kg / 5lb Westholme coulotte (also called rump cap or picanha)
1 kombu sheet
28g Red Boat salt
9 head-on shrimp (size U10)
Angry Sauce (see below)
20g garlic, sliced
little gem leaves
32g mint leaves
Angry Sauce
Angry Sauce
1 red onion, chopped
3 Fresno chillies, chopped
1 serrano chillies, chopped
3 sweet chillies, dried
3 cayenne chillies, dried
2 cascabel chillies
235g olive oil
10g molasses
31g cassis vinegar
20g kosher salt
5g ground black pepper
Method
Dry Aged Coulotte
Trim excess fat from the fat cap then score to create a crosshatch. Remove the silverskin from the meat side.
Wrap the whole coulotte in a sheet of kombu and tie with butcher’s twine. Leave in the refrigerator for 7-14 days with appropriate room to breathe. This will change the complexity of the wagyu and add a lot to the ‘surf and turf’ part of this dish.
When it’s time to roast, remove meat from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for 45 minutes. Unwrap and season the meat with Red Boat salt then rewrap with kombu and tie with butcher’s twine. Preheat oven to 230C/450F.
While the meat is coming to temperature, split the back of the shrimp leaving the shells on and removing the poop vein. Wearing gloves, marinate shrimp in the Angry Sauce (see below), slathering the shrimp.
Place the kombu-wrapped coulotte in a sauté pan and place in the preheated oven until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the meat hits 43C/110F. Remove from oven. Leave wrapped in kombu to carry-over cook for about 15 minutes. This will bring the internal temperature to about 52C/125F after resting, which will be a perfect temperature for sharing this roast. There will be a gradual difference in textures and temperature throughout the coulotte.
While the meat is resting, grill the shrimp on the barbie making sure not to overcook.
At the same time, place the fat from the coulotte in a saute pan with the garlic and mint, blistering and blooming the flavour. Add the little gem leaves, sauteing fast and being sure to not overcook.
To serve, remove the meat from the kombu, slice the meat and place on a platter. Dress with Angry Sauce. Place the shrimp next to it and the little gems on the platter for folks to take and make their own plates.
Angry Sauce
Remove stems from dried chillies and rehydrate them in hot water.
In a blender, add chopped fresh chillies and onions with half the oil and half the rehydrated chillies. Blend until smooth and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Repeat this process with the rest of the chillies and oil, add the molasses and vinegar and blend until smooth.
Transfer to the mixing bowl; add salt and pepper to season. Stir through. Keep refrigerated.
"With this surf ‘n’ turf coulotte (or rump cap), I’m having a dig at the Aussie idea of ‘shrimps on the barbie’. Having said that, rather than barbecuing the shrimp, I cook them in rendered wagyu fat with five types of chilli. That’s the ‘angry’ bit!"
