Japanese Sunday Miso-Browned-Butter Stuffed Peppers

About This Recipe

Stuffed peppers appear in Japanese home cooking as piman no nikuzume, usually filled with a seasoned ground meat mixture and pan-fried or baked. This version keeps that filling technique — pork, rice and aromatics packed into halved peppers — but finishes the dish with a browned butter and miso sauce, a combination that leans into miso's nutty side once it's cooked with browned dairy fat. Browning butter until it smells toasted and turns golden-brown, then whisking in miso off the heat, creates a sauce with real depth that a plain glaze wouldn't have. It's poured over the peppers just before serving so it stays glossy rather than absorbing completely. This is a Sunday-dinner kind of dish: a bit more assembly than a weeknight meal, but nothing technically difficult, and it holds up well as leftovers through the week.

Ingredients

Serves 5

• 5bell peppers(halved and seeded)
• 500 gground pork
• 1.5 cupscooked short-grain rice
• 1small onion(finely diced)
• 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 2 tbspsoy sauce
• 1 tbspmirin
• 1egg
• 0.5 tspfine sea salt
• 4 tbspunsalted butter
• 2 tbspwhite miso paste
• 2scallions(sliced, for garnish)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prep the peppers

   Halve bell peppers lengthwise and remove seeds and membranes. Arrange cut-side up in a baking dish.

2. 2

   Preheat

   Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).

3. 3

   Make the filling

   Mix ground pork, cooked rice, onion, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, egg and salt together until well combined and slightly sticky.

4. 4

   Stuff and bake

   Pack the filling firmly into each pepper half, mounding slightly. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the peppers are tender and the filling is cooked through (74°C/165°F internal).

5. 5

   Brown the butter

   While the peppers bake, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until it turns golden-brown and smells nutty, about 4-5 minutes.

   Watch closely in the last minute — browned butter can burn quickly.

6. 6

   Add the miso

   Remove the butter from heat and whisk in miso until smooth.

7. 7

   Finish and serve

   Spoon the miso-browned butter generously over the baked peppers and scatter with scallions before serving.

Variations

• •

  Use ground chicken or turkey instead of pork for a leaner version.

• •

  Add finely chopped shiitake mushrooms to the filling for extra umami.

• •

  Top with shredded cheese before the final few minutes of baking for a fusion twist.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat covered in a 180°C oven for about 12 minutes; the miso butter can be gently rewarmed and drizzled over just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions