Pica-Pau (Portuguese Beef Tips with Mustard and Pickles)

Pica-pau means woodpecker, which makes perfect sense the first time you watch a table full of people peck at these little beef cubes with toothpicks. It’s a fixture of Portuguese tascas, the small neighborhood bars where you order a round of petiscos instead of one big plate, and it was the first thing my husband ever ordered for me on a trip to Lisbon, mostly because he liked watching me try to say pica-pau without laughing.

The whole dish comes together in the time it takes to set the table. Cubes of beef sear hot and fast so the outside caramelizes while the inside stays tender, then a quick pan sauce of garlic, white wine, mustard, and pickles gets built right in the same skillet. It’s punchy and a little tangy, built to be eaten standing up with cocktail picks and a stack of napkins.

We make this most often on nights when the kids have some activity and dinner needs to happen fast, but it’s just as good as a party appetizer. If you like this style of quick, saucy petisco, our Bitoque à Portuguesa (recipe on the site) and Prego no Prato (recipe on the site) belong on the same table.

Pica-Pau Recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes · Cook time: 15 minutes · Total: 30 minutes · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~380 per serving

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs beef sirloin or tenderloin tips, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons Dijon or Portuguese-style mustard
• 2 tablespoons sliced cornichons or dill pickles, plus 1 tablespoon pickle brine
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• Crusty bread, for serving
• Chopped parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. Season the beef cubes generously with salt and pepper.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat until shimmering. Sear the beef in batches, about 1 to 2 minutes per side, so it browns outside but stays rare in the center; don’t crowd the pan. Set aside.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic and bay leaf to the same skillet and cook 30 seconds, until fragrant.
4. Pour in the white wine, scraping up any browned bits, and let it reduce by half, about 2 minutes.
5. Stir in the mustard, pickles, and pickle brine. Add the butter and stir until the sauce turns glossy.
6. Return the beef and any accumulated juices to the pan and toss quickly to coat and reheat, about 1 minute; don’t overcook it.
7. Discard the bay leaf, adjust seasoning, and serve immediately with cocktail picks and plenty of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

Recipe Notes

• Keep the beef pieces small and uniform so they sear fast and stay tender in the center.
• This is classic tasca, or bar, food in Portugal, usually eaten standing up with a cold beer.
• Swap sirloin for a more economical cut like flank steak, sliced thin against the grain.
• Don’t skip the searing step in batches; overcrowding the pan steams the beef instead of browning it.