I've learnt to to make a kick-ass roasted rump

If I were I cow, I want to be a wagyu cow. Life will be short-lived, but at least I would have had endless sake facials, massages, ate richly and well and drank copious amount of beer.

But lucky for me, I’m at the other end of the food chain. Over the past month, I’ve been trying to master the craft of making tasty cow’s buttocks, which is more politely known in society as roasted wagyu rump. I have tried a few permutations… one being seasoning with either thyme, olive oil, pepper and salt or rosemary, olive oil, pepper and salt. Between the two, I have found that because of the full tasting nature of wagyu, it needs a slightly more powerful herb and the so the rosemary stood up to it better.

The second thing I’ve tried to do it to roast it at a higher temperature in the oven and for 15 minutes and then lowering the temperature for the remaining cooking them, but I have found that it was easier and better to start the browning process in the roasting pan over the gas stove and to finish off the roasting in the oven.

The third thing that I have observed and would seem rather obvious is that it is very important for the piece of meat to come to room temperature before roasting, taking it out 15 minutes and 30-45 minutes before cooking makes a huge difference. If it is not at room temperature, the cooking WILL be uneven and the insides will be raw not rare, but raw and it still might be a tad cold.

Other observations I have made, making a roast starts with good meat. With a good marbling score between 8-10 wagyu meat, it will be very forgiving. If you over-roast it, it will be a damn shame but it will still taste wickedly good, but if you work with a calculator and a kitchen timer with a loud alarm and get it done medium-rare it will be a sure winner, and every meat-lover will want to be your friend.

Resting the meat is also a very important step that must not be skipped. I usually rest the meat rest the meat in the oven with its door open for 15 minutes before slicing. This is important because it is the process that allows the juices to return to the centre and makes it juicy and succulent.

When slicing, make sure you have a cloth at hand and that you are wearing an apron and not wearing white to make sure that any bloody meat juices spills do not make you look like a murderer.

Here is what I think should be done when roasting wagyu rump

For a 1.8kg rump
3-4 sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
1-2 Tbsp olive oil

1. Season rump with salt and pepper then rub it with oil and rosemary. Do this at least 3 hours before hand or the night before and let it marinate in the refrigerator.
2. Remove rump from the refrigerator at least half an hour before cooking and ensure that it comes to room temperature.
3. Preheat oven to 180°C.
3. Heat roasting tin until hot and make sure you get a good sizzling sound when the meat hits the pan. Fry the meat on each side for about 3 minutes or until brown, then remove rump from pan.
4. Place a rack in the roasting tin and place rump, fat side up, onto the rack and transfer to the preheated oven and roast for 55 minutes. Switch off the oven and let meat cool with the oven door open.
5. Slice and serve with a green salad and mashed potatoes.