Recipe: Geoff Marett’s Caramelly Shio Koji Pork Cheek With Wasabi Verde

For many Australians, wasabi has long been cast in a supporting role as sushi’s sassy green sidekick: an intense condiment to be used for a specific purpose. At his cosy West Melbourne bar Benchwarmer, chef Geoff Marett challenges diners to think differently.

Since he joined just over a year ago, the venue has evolved from a beer-centric hangout to something closer to an izakaya. It’s still relaxed and drink-friendly, but with a sharper food offering that draws on the chef’s Japanese training and Cantonese heritage.

In dishes like his crowd-pleasing shio koji pork cheek, Marett uses wasabi in inventive and approachable ways, reframing the under-appreciated root as an Aussie kitchen all-rounder.

“Wasabi can be intense on its own, but when balanced well, it’s a really versatile ingredient,” he says.

And the supermarket version is more than fine. A tube like S&B ’s is also convenient, delivering the aromatic punch of fresh wasabi without the prep of grating: simply squeeze and mix.

“In Australia, fresh wasabi is hard to come by and can be expensive, so most people use good-quality paste or powder instead. That’s what makes it accessible. Without those products, we wouldn’t be able to cook with it at all.”

So how to use it? Marett suggests starting by riffing on familiar food references.

“If you think of wasabi like a hot mustard or horseradish, the possibilities open up. Add it to a salad dressing, whisk it into a marinade for fish or chicken, or rub it onto beef before roasting. You could even mix it through a sauce with honey for vegetables.”

He also points to less obvious applications: stirred into dips, spread with avocado on toast, or sprinkled over popcorn in the form of wasabi furikake seasoning.

The pork cheek at Benchwarmer comes with Marett’s wasabi verde: a bright, herby sauce of parsley, basil, kombu, wasabi, mustard, capers and rice wine vinegar that cuts through a sticky gochujang glaze. “That heat works beautifully to lift the rich sweetness and umami in the dish,” Marett says.

The dish is garnished with aonori, a form of dried seaweed that comes in small flakes; if you can’t find it, nori used for sushi can be easily substituted – just crush it before sprinkling over the top. And the pork cheek can be substituted for belly if you’d like, just cook it to the same instructions.

The key, he adds, is restraint. “People might be put off wasabi after having too much in one go... Just a little goes a long way.”

And that’s the point: wasabi isn’t about blowing your head off. It’s about adding a crisp, aromatic lift that makes familiar dishes more exciting. “Once you start using it like any other condiment, you’ll wonder why it’s been hiding in the fridge door all this time.”

Benchwarmer’s shiokoji pork cheek with wasabi verde

Serves 2
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 5.5 hours

Ingredients

300g pork cheek
150ml shio koji
150ml confit garlic oil
15ml olive oil
15ml lemon juice
Pinch of salt
30g Tuscan kale
15g pickled fennel
1 lemon wedge
Aonori

Wasabi verde

25g basil
30g capers
40g Dijon mustard
15ml kombu extract
60ml oil
25g parsley
100ml rice wine vinegar
10g S&B Wasabi in Tube
Pinch of salt

Gochugang glaze

200g raw garlic
300ml water
100g gochujang
100g white miso
50ml sesame oil
100ml soy
5g white pepper
60ml rice wine vinegar
30ml kombu extract
400g white sugar

Method

For the wasabi verde, add ingredients to a blender and blitz until properly combined, smooth and bright green.

For the gochugang glaze, blitz raw garlic, water, gochujang and miso in blender until combined. Add to a pot with sesame oil, soy, white pepper, rice wine vinegar and kombu extract. Bring mixture to a low–medium simmer and stir every 15 minutes. Cook until raw garlic taste is gone, sauce reduces and slightly thickens (roughly 2 hours). Add sugar and further cook down, stirring, until it thickens into a sticky glaze.

Clean and trim the fat from the pork cheek. Mix the shio koji and confit garlic oil in a bowl. Add pork cheek and rub in the marinade evenly.

Place pork cheek in vacuum bags and seal them tightly. Bring a water bath to 72°C, then add the bags of pork cheek to cook sous vide and leave for 4 hours. Remove the bags and place them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Season the pork and brush a generous amount of gochujang glaze evenly all over the pork cheek. Chargrill over high heat until coloured on all sides. Brush gochujang glaze a second time and continue to grill until nicely charred. Finish off with a blowtorch so the char is even.

To serve, slice the pork with a sharp knife onto a plate. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, Tuscan kale and pickled fennel to a mixing bowl. Mix well and place on the pork cheek. Put a dollop of wasabi verde on the side with a sprinkle of aonori, and plate with a lemon wedge to squeeze for extra zest.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with S&B Foods.

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