This is a recipe inspired by the Japanese beef Tataki dish. These small beef Tataki rolls are delicious, fresh and very tasty. They are easy to make, but require some preparation and planning ahead. They great to serve as finger food or appetizers.
Beef Tataki is a Japanese method of preparing beef tenderloin/fillet. The beef is seared, marinated in a delicious sauce, then thinly sliced and served with ponzu (a citrus like dressing. Usually it’s served similar to sashimi, thinly sliced on a plate. But I thought I make a finger food or appetizer version of it by making small beef Tataki rolls that are ready to dip in the delicious ponzu dressing. This dish is really easy to make, but it requires some preparation and most of all patience while the meat marinates. I really love to make these small appetizer rolls. They are so fresh, and are just perfect to serve as appetizers or finger food, triggering your appetite but not making you too full before dinner. The combination of the tender marinated beef with the crunchy and fresh vegetables dipped in the delicious ponzu. Ponzu is quite hard to describe to be honest. It has a citrusy flavor, but is still rich, tangy and sweet…all at once. Imagine soy sauce, rice vinegar and citrus in a combination.. It’s just divine.
A few tips:
- Make sure the beef is at room temperature before frying it.
- Use a really good high quality steak, it make a huge difference. You want it to be tender, tasty and melt in your mouth. And not chewy and tasteless.
- DONT sear the beef for too long. It should really just get some color around the edges, but be very rare inside.
- Let the meat marinate for at least four hours in the fridge before serving it, but preferably over night. This will make the meat more tender and it will absorb more of the tastes and flavors from the marinade.
- Slice the vegetables just before serving.
- Slice the vegetables thinly.
- If you don’t have or can’t find ponzu I have added an alternative dip sauce for the Tataki rolls.
Ingredient for these Beef Tataki Rolls:
- Beef tenderloin
- Cucumber
- Red bell pepper
- Carrot
- Furikake seasoning
- Fresh cilantro
- Tamari or Japanese soy sauce
- Ponzu
Other recipe you might like:
- Asian Style Tuna Steak (Paleo, Keto & Low Carb)
- Salmon Sashimi Popsicle with Avocado Cream
- Asian Style Salad Cups with Shrimps
- Korean Beef Tartar (Gluten, Dairy, Grain Free & Low Carb)
- Spicy Scallops with Brussel Sprouts & Shiitake
Beef Tataki Appetizer Rolls (Gluten, Grain Free & Low Carb)
Ingredients
- 100 g Beef tenderloin (about 2 cm thick) room temperatured
- 1/4 Cucumber cored and thinly sliced into 5 cm long slices
- 1/4 Red bell pepper thinly sliced into 5 cm long slices
- 1/4 Carrot thinly sliced into 5 cm long slices
- Furikake seasoning, to garnish
- Fresh cilantro, to garnish
For the marinade
- 3 tbsp Tamari or Japanese light soya sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp Mirini
- 1 Garlic clove minced
- 1-1 tsp Fresh ginger minced
- 1 Scallion thinly sliced
Dipping sauce
- 3-4 tbsp Ponzu
Make your own ponzu style sauce
- 2 tsp Lemon juice
- 4 tsp Mirini
- 4 tsp Tamari or Japanese light soy sauce
- 4 tsp Rice vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat a frying pan with some olive oil.
- Sear for 1-2 minutes on each side, it should be rare in the middle.
- Take out of the pan and put on a plate.
- Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl.
- Put the steak in a plastic bag and add the dressing to it. Make sure the whole steak is covered by the marinade. Place in the fridge and let it rest for at least 3 hours, but preferably over night.
- When time to serve, slice the cucumber, red bell pepper and carrot thinly.
- Take out the steak from the plastic bowl and brush off some of the excess marinade.
- Slice thinly (1/2 cm thin slices), add cucumber, bell pepper and carrot on each slice and roll together.
- Place on a big plate.
- Pour pozu to a bowl or combine the ingredients for the ponzu style sauce in a bowl and serve.