Beef and Cucumber Parcels

A simple, quick canapé recipe, these beef and cucumber parcels are sure to impress. If you have little helpers in the kitchen, these are perfect for them; one can spread the mayo, the next can wrap the parcels and so on.

I first had something similar some 20 years ago at a restaurant in London, with the parcels sitting on a bed of pea puree. I was so impressed with the presentation that it’s one of those dishes that I’ve replicated countless times over the years.

Get a good quality steak like sirloin, not too thick. We are cutting the steak into cubes, then quickly browning it all over and keeping it just lightly cooked. It should still be pink in the middle. You can read more about cuts of beef here.

The Chilli Sauce – sweet chilli sauce is so easy to make. I suggest getting a mild to medium type of chilli here, unless of course, you and your guests are lovers of spicy chillies.

The recipe that follows is for a basic sweet chilli sauce but you can go so many places with this, adding some lime or lemon juice, some lime leaves, lemongrass – endless possibilities!

INGREDIENTS

2 sirloin steak

salt

pepper

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 large cucumber

mayonnaise (homemade or shop bought)

herb of your choice for topping – shiso, coriander, Thai basil

Sweet Chilli Sauce

2 large red chillies, to taste

100ml water

100g caster/granulated sugar

50ml Chinese Rice vinegar or ordinary clear vinegar

pinch of salt

Mix everything together and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken. Check seasoning and that’s it!

a dozen tiny dishes of whatever shape to serve

toothpicks

METHOD

1.Cut the steaks into 1 inch cubes, no bigger than that. Slightly smaller is perfectly fine. You’ll find that you will have a couple that are slightly smaller and not quite cubes. If they’re big enough, use them, if not, well, pop them in your mouth!

2. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan/skillet on high heat.

4. When it is just reaching the smoking stage, quickly sauté the steak cubes, browning them all over. You might have to do this in 2 batches if your pan isn’t big enough.

5.You shouldn’t need more than 2 minutes for this. Try and brown/sear the meat all over. The middle should still be pink, unless of course, you like your meat well done!

6. Dish out onto a plate lined with kitchen paper and leave to cool.

7. Top and tail the cucumber and cut them in half, lengthwise.

8. Using either a broad vegetable peeler or a sharp knife. Cut thin slices about 5-6 inches long.

9. Pat the cucumber slices dry with kitchen paper and set aside.

Assembly

Lay a cucumber slice out.

Spread some mayonnaise on.

Place a steak cube about half to one inch away from the edge close to you.

Roll it up, finishing with the rolled end at the bottom.

Get a leaf, place it on top of the parcel and pierce it through with a toothpick.

Place a teaspoon or so of the chilli sauce into each serving dish and top with a cucumber parcel.

Voila!