THE ROKA WAY

Slovakian-born Libor Dobis, Corporate Chef at the award-winning Japanese robatayaki concept ROKA, began his culinary journey in London in 2004, where he worked at the Italian restaurant I Sapori by Stefano Cavallini. With a passion for South-East Asian flavours and cooking techniques, Libor went on to work at celebrated restaurants such as Nobu, Nahm and Naamyaa by Alan Yau. In 2014, Libor joined the ROKA family, working at the Mayfair and Canary Wharf locations, climbing the ranks to become Head Chef. Taking on the ROKA Executive Head Chef position in Dubai in 2019, Libor was named Corporate Chef soon after. He currently spearheads the team at ROKA’s latest opening in Riyadh. Here he shares two of his favourite recipes from the new outpost

ROKA baked potato, yuzu cream and chives

Serves 4

4 XL Idaho potatoes Vegetable oil 50g butter 50g milk 50g full cream Flakey sea salt Black pepper

Yuzu sour cream

100g sour cream 5g green yuzu kosho 10g yuzu juice, unsalted

Method

1 Season the potatoes with oil, salt and pepper. Wrap in aluminium foil and bake at 180C until fully cooked, they should be soft to touch (90 minutes approx.) Remove the foil and set aside to rest for 20 minutes. 2 When hot, remove the outer skin into two pieces and leave it aside. 3 Deep fry the skins at 150C until golden and crispy and reserve until needed. 4 Put the potato flesh through a fine sieve to make the mash. 5 Heat the cream, butter and milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil. 6 Fold the cream mixture through the mash until smooth. Add salt and pepper to your taste. 7 Whisk all the yuzu sour cream ingredients together until smooth and chill, to allow to set. 8 Place a nice scoop of mashed potato in the center of your serving plate, and lay the crispy skin on top. Add a spoon full of yuzu cream on top and season with shichimi chili pepper.

Spicy beef fillet with ginger and spring onions

Serves 4

4 (200g) beef fillet steaks Vegetable oil 4 green spring onions

Spicy yakiniku sauce

50g green chilli, sliced with seeds removed 10g red chilli, sliced with seeds 60g ginger, skin removed and sliced 10g garlic, peeled and crushed 50g red miso paste 80g reduced salt soy sauce 400g mirin 10 lime zest 30g roasted Japanese sesame seeds Salt Black pepper

Method

1 Process in a blender the chilli (green and red), garlic, ginger and ½ the mirin, and blitz until a paste is formed. 2 Remove into a large bowl and whisk in the remaining sauce ingredients, adjust seasoning with salt and cracked black pepper. 3 To prepare the dish, prep the beef fillet with a little vegetable oil and season well with salt and pepper on both sides of the steak. Grill the steaks over a very hot charcoal grill. 4 Sear each side of the steak on the hot grill or pan, then brush with the yakiniku sauce and keep turning. Cook to your desired cooking degree. I suggest cooking to medium-rare, about 2-3 minutes on each side, and rest of the grill for 3 minutes. Brush with sauce before slicing. Slice into thin strips and place on your serving plate. Brush again with sauce. 5 Slice the green part of the spring onions and serve on top of the beef with a few extra sesame seeds.