Sriracha marinated beef wraps with mint, basil & shiso

This recipe was created as a means to use up the large amount of shiso leaves growing in my veg plot, (see below - the dark purple plant on the right). I thought it might be interesting to try something a little unusual in the plot and I have to say it has thrived, tripling in size very quickly, but, now the dilemma of what to do with it all.

I know shiso is popular in Asian cuisines, sometimes called Asian mint or perilla and is often used as a wrapping for grilled meats, along with a rich spicy sauce and some other herbs. It has a strong, almost astringent flavour, a bit like basil on steroids. I decided to slather a spicy marinade on some beef cubes, grill them on the BBQ and use the shiso as a wrapping along with lettuce leaves, gochujang Korean sauce and other herbs from the garden. They were fresh, herbal and spicy with the caramelised grilled meat slightly sweet and crisp. Now I have to figure out other ways to use this intriguing herb, shiso pesto maybe...

Recipe : Sriracha marinated beef sirloin

Adapted from Bon Appetit (The original recipe used chicken)

1 piece of beef sirloin (this would be rump in the UK), (about 2 lb in weight), cut into cubes
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup sambal oelek or other chili paste
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup Sriracha

Other ingredients:

about 10 shiso leaves

10 lettuce leaves

10 mint leaves

10 Thai basil leaves

14 cup Gochujang or other spicy chili based sauce

1/4 cup finely chopped shallot and raw garlic if you're brave

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and place in a large bowl along with the beef pieces, (or chicken, or pork....). Cover, refrigerate and let marinade together for a minimum of 2 hours up to overnight.

 

 
When ready to cook, either preheat a gas or charcoal BBQ to medium to high or preheat a grill, (broiler) until hot. Grill the meat pieces until cooked to your liking for beef or cooked through for chicken. 

To eat, place a shiso leaf on top of a larger lettuce leaf and place a piece of meat in the centre. Add a leaf of basil, mint, some shallot and garlic, (if using) and top with about 2 tsp of sauce. Roll up and eat together, maybe dipped in a little more sweet chili sauce if you like. 

You may also like:

Bo Saam

Beef and basil rolls