Piman Nikuzume (ピーマン肉詰め) is Japanese green pepper stuffed with a ground meat mixture and pan-fried. The meat stuffing is just like hamburger meat, and the sauce is also similar to what we use for hamburger steak. Piman Nikuzume is very much a home cooking meal, but you can sometimes get it at diners and Izakaya food bars.
Piman is a vegetable similar to American bell peppers but much smaller, and the “meat” is much thinner. It is also a little bit like a bigger version of Shishito peppers. Its taste has some bitterness, but relatively mild. This nutritious vegetable is used in many Japanese dishes like Stir-Fried Vegetables, pasta, and noodles. Piman is an all-year-round vegetable in Japan, but it is in season in summer. So you may not find it at Japanese supermarkets here in the US in winter. You could substitute with small American bell peppers, but it will taste different and most likely be more watery. You might want to wait until spring or summer to make this.
The ground meat we used here was Aibiki (50% beef, 50% pork), but you could use just ground beef or ground pork. The sauce for this dish could be a mixture of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce as we made here, but also you can use Teriyaki sauce or Ponzu sauce. If sauces are different, you have a totally different experience with the dish. Just choose one to suit what you feel like eating for the day.
It is very easy to make, and it won’t take too long. Piman Nikuzume is a perfect hearty dinner entree, or good for a party if making a bunch. Try it this summer!
Piman Nikuzume (Stuffed Pepper) Recipe
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Instructions
- Mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cut piman in half, remove stems and seeds. Sprinkle flour inside piman with a mesh strainer.
- Chop onion finely. In a large bowl, put onion, beef, pork, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper together and mix very well.
- Stuff meat mixture into the piman.
- Heat oil in a frying-pan at medium heat. Place the stuffed piman meat-side down in the pan and cook covered for 3-4 minutes. Then turn over and cook another 2-3 minutes until cooked through. Put sauce over meat and serve.
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