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Katsu-style cheese-stuffed pimientos

Katsu-style cheese-stuffed pimientos

For people with high tolerance for spicy hot food, there’s the Mexican chili relleno. For the rest of us, there’s cheese-stuffed pimientoes cooked Japanese katsu style.
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine Fusion
Keyword Breaded and fried
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  • 6 pimientos
  • 2 bird’s eye chilies
  • 12 stalks scallions
  • 1 red onion
  • 100 grams cheese about 3.5 oz (I used Colby but you can use any variety that melts well)
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ to ⅓ cup panko
  • 2 cups cooking oil
  • chunky tomato sauce for dipping

Instructions

Prepare the pimientos

  • Grill the pimientos directly over fire until the skins are black.
    Grilling bell peppers on the stove
  • Turn them over every half minute or so so that the skins char as evenly as possible.
  • Place the hot roasted pimientos in a container with an airtight lid (a resealable plastic bag will do as well).
  • Cover and allow to steam for anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes.
    Sweating grilled bell peppers / mixing cheese filling

Prepare the stuffing

  • Finely slice the scallions.
  • Finely chop the bird’s eye chilies and red onion.
  • Grate the cheese.
  • Place the cheese, scallions, onion and chilies in a bowl. Season with some salt and pepper. Toss to distribute the ingredients evenly.

Stuff the pimientos

  • Take the pimientos out of the container and peel off the skins.
  • Using a sharp pointed knife, slit one side of each pimiento to create a pocket.
    Peeling off the skin of grilled bell peppers
  • Using a teaspoon, scoop out the seeds and piths. Do it delicately as the flesh of the pimientos are already soft and they tear easily.
    Deseeding grilled bell peppers and stuffing them with cheese
  • Stuff the pimientos with the cheese filling. I did this by hand, pushing small amount of stuffing into each pimiento little by little.

Fry the cheese-stuffed pimientos

  • Start heating the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan.
  • Create your assembly line. Place the flour on a plate. Beat the egg in a shallow bowl. Pour the panko on another plate. Place all three — flour, egg and panko — side by side.
  • Holding the stuffed pimiento by the stem, dredge in flour, shaking off the excess.
    Coating cheese-stuffed bell pepper with panko
  • Dip the floured pimiento in the beaten egg, making sure that every inch of the surface is coated.
  • Roll the pimiento in panko, again making sure that every inch of the surface is coated.
  • Repeat for the rest of the pimientos.
  • Deep fry the breaded cheese-stuffed pimientos until the surface is golden and crisp.
  • Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the fried pimientos and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels or napkins.
  • Serve the very hot cheese-stuffed pimientos with chunky tomato sauce on the side for dipping.
    Katsu-style cheese-stuffed pimientos