On the anniversary of us living here for 2 years, we wanted to try a classic Sydney restaurant. We chose Eleven Bridge, part of the Rockpool fine dining group headed up by chef Neil Perry. Making our own degustation menu, we worked our way through 8 courses. It was all decadent and wonderful, however the dish that most stuck out in my mind was perhaps the simplest one of the night: Asian Wagyu Steak Tartare.
Let’s face it, with fine dining it’s sometimes even hard to understand and recognise what rare ingredients and concoctions you are eating. But this tartare was all about showcasing a few simple, high-quality ingredients, such as Wagyu beef, thinly sliced cabbage, small cubes of fresh green apple and toasted pine nuts. It was very clean and balanced and all the ingredients were mixed together at our table, to increase the sensory experience. I decided that attempting to re-create this dish would be the perfect way to test out and compare two popular
mandolin slicers.
Benriner Jumbo Mandoline Slicer
The Jumbo
Benriner Mandoline Slicer is seen in professional kitchens the world around. In fact, I remember using it while working in a couple restaurants during my Masterchef challenges. It is a simple piece of equipment and doesn’t take a lot of room when stored away. The Benriner features a non-skid base and a hook for attaching to the side of a bowl, so that the slices can go directly inside. I wasn’t able to make use of this though, as none of my bowls were actually big enough for the mandolin to lay across. Mind you, I do have the Jumbo version. I found the machine was self-explanatory and user-friendly: there is a dial on the underside that you manually turn to achieve the thickness of slice you require. A finger guard secures the vegetable with prongs and allows you to slide with even, back and forth strokes. Being made from sharp and durable Japanese steel, allows for effortless slicing.
Progressive PL8 Professional Mandoline
The PL8 Professional Cubing Mandoline is apparently the most popular with home chefs. It feels sturdy and sits firmly on its own on your countertop (the Benriner must be handheld while you slice with the other hand). It has several dials to choose from very thin julienne to thick slices and also a way of achieving cubes by turning the handguard. The fruit/vegetable sits inside the handguard which also has an attachment to keep it fixed onto the machine. The adjustable dials move the blades for you so that you never need to have any contact near the blade, and the dials also feature a locked position to completely close off the blades for safe storage.
The Mandoline Comparison Chart
Here are my comparison scores, with 1 being the worst possible and 10 the best:
And the winner is.... The PL8 Professional
I clearly prefer the
Progressive PL8 for a few reasons: namely, I just feel safer using it. It feels sturdier on the countertop than the Benriner which feels a little shaky with me holding one side, and I especially like feeling more protected from the blades. I think the Benriner probably takes a little time to get into a confident motion with it. I can see why professional chefs like to use it – its simple, takes up little room and is known in the industry to perform well. However, I found the PL8 to perform better. I was chopping some cabbage which was tricky to hold together and I liked being able to contain it within the handguard. I found it really difficult to keep control of it using the Benriner. You’ll see from my comparison photo that I was barely able to slice it!
Everten's Opinion:
Benriners are used across commercial kitchens and loved by professional chefs worldwide. We have seen the Benriner in both Hat Awarded restaurants, Tetsuya and The Quay restaurants in Sydney. For the home cook, like most of us, we would recommend the PL8 Professional because the number one concern for our customers when purchasing a mandoline slicer is safety. We all dread the thought of cutting ourselves when in use and when changing blades. The PL8 does not require you to touch blades when changing the slice type nor does it require you to ever put your fingers up against the food you are slicing. For this reason, the obvious choice for a home cook will be the PL8. If you are an experienced cook and do a lot of precision cutting with a mandoline, certainly consider the Benriner as your first choice. At the end of the day, it all comes down to comfort, we are sure you will be happy with the results produced by both! Both mandoline slicers are a step above the cheap models you will find at local supermarkets.
Copycat recipe of 11 Bridge’s Asian Wagyu Tartare
Ingredients
(serves 2)
- 100g Wagyu Beef sirloin*
- ¼ Chinese cabbage
- ¼ Granny Smith apple
- ½ finely chopped spring onion
- 1 tbsp toasted pine nuts
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp fermented bean paste*
- 2 tbsp black sesame paste*
Instructions:
1.Trim beef of all sinew and slice into thin strips.
2. Using a mandolin, slice the cabbage as thinly as possible and cube the apple. (if not using straight away, squeeze over a few drops of lime or lemon juice to stop it from browning) 3.Place the beef in a bowl with the bean paste and work it in so that it coats the meat. Add the cabbage and toss to mix. Add the apple cubes, spring onion, pine nuts and sesame oil and lightly mix through.
4.Spread 1 tbsp of black sesame paste on each serving plate. Divide the beef mixture into two and pile elegantly on top.
Notes:
-The Wagyu I could get was a marble score of 5, and I seem to recall at 11 Bridge (although I was several wines in at this stage) they had a marble score of 9! Ask a reputable butcher about the marble scoring, and where the beef comes from. Apparently, much of the Wagyu we eat is crossed with another breed, so do buy the best you can get your hands on. 100g cost me about $14.00, which isn’t too bad considering the recipe serves 2. -You can find this spicy bean paste in the Korean section of most Asian supermarkets. The one I used was called Ssamjang. I wouldn’t be surprised if at Eleven Bridge they made their own. -You can also buy black sesame paste in Asian grocery stores. Or make your own by roasting the seeds then use a high-speed blender to grind them down until the oils are released and a paste is formed (be patient – it takes several minutes).
