Umami Cooking

Meaty with a dash of veggies

Pepper cheesesteak

Beef, cheese and bread make up the most basic cheesesteak sandwich. Onion is optional (we like caramelized onion in our sandwiches). Adding bell pepper makes it a pepper cheesesteak sandwich.

Pepper cheesesteak and fries

Beef+ Bread / quick bread recipe

Cook’s notes

You will want thinly-sliced beef to make this sandwich. And that means the slices are less than a quarter of an inch thick. We prefer using yakiniku-cut beef because the thickness of the slices is just right.
The most basic seasoning for the beef is, of course, salt-and-pepper combo. But if you want a richer flavor, you can drizzle in Worcestershire sauce. Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) works too.
Log-shaped rolls called hoagies are traditional for making cheesesteak. We used homebaked bread for our sandwiches which is a cross between Vietnamese baguette and hoagie.
For the cheese, we used a combination of mature cheddar and mozzarella.

Pepper cheesesteak

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Servings: 3 people
Course: Sandwich
Cuisine: American
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Ingredients

  • 1 onion peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 bell pepper deseeded and julienned
  • 3 tablespoons cooking oil
  • salt
  • pepper
  • butter
  • 300 grams top round beef (10.5 oz) thinly sliced
  • 3 bread rolls
  • cheese slices

Instructions

  1. Heat one tablespoon cooking oil in a frying pan.
  2. Spread the onion slices in the hot oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  3. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often after the first two to three minutes, until caramelized and softened.
  4. Scoop out the caramelized onion and set aside.
  5. Preheat the broiler to 400F.
  6. Heat another tablespoon of cooking oil in the pan.
  7. Spread the julienned bell pepper in the hot oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  8. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and the edges are starting to brown.
  9. Scoop out the bell pepper and set aside.
  10. Drizzle the remaing oil into the pan, add the butter, and set the heat to high.
  11. Sear the beef with salt and pepper on high heat, stirring the pieces around once the meat is no longer pink.
  12. Split the rolls, and spread butter on the cut side of both the top and bottom halves.
  13. Divide the beef into three portions.
  14. Arrange the rolls (including the top halves) on a tray.
  15. Arrange one portion of beef on each of the bottom halves of the rolls, and top with caramelized onion and bell pepper.
  16. Lay cheese slices on top of the beef, onion and bell peppers.
  17. Heat in the broiler just until the cheese melts.
  18. Serve the pepper cheesesteak sandwiches immediately.
    Pepper cheesesteak and fries
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Meaty with a dash of veggies