Pepper Lunch is my favorite food court go-to when I’m in Asia. It’s such a simple food concept, but it’s irresistibly delicious. Whether it’s fish or beef toppings, it’s always satisfying and just right. Inspired by popular Japanese fast-casual chain Pepper Lunch, this Pepper Lunch Beef Chili Rice recipe gives you the same bold flavors and comforting texture of a regular pan, making it an easy and affordable meal you can whip up in under 20 minutes. Once you try it, you’ll do it again and again.
What is pepper lunch
Pepper Lunch is a popular Japanese casual dining/fast food brand known for its “Sizzle It Your Way” concept with numerous locations across Asia and beyond. Originally founded in Japan in 1994, Pepper Lunch is known for serving DIY teppanyaki-style meals and sauces on super-heated teppan plates, allowing diners to mix and cook meat right at their table. The result is an incredibly fragrant, slightly crispy and savory dish that makes pepper lunches so beloved in the East. The signature beef pepper rice is the brand’s most iconic dish, consisting of thinly sliced beef, rice, sweet corn, generous amounts of black pepper, butter and an amazing honey garlic soy sauce. It’s rich, buttery, and addictively delicious.
Why You’ll Love This Beef Chili Lunch Recipe
In addition to the amazing flavor, this pepper lunch copycat recipe takes less than 20 minutes to make with the simplest of pantry ingredients. If you need an easy, quick, no-fuss weeknight dinner recipe, this is it.
How to Make Beef and Pepper Rice for Pepper Lunch at Home Using a Regular Pan
Ingredients you need
- light soy sauce
- Oyster sauce
- garlic
- black pepper – Preferably coarse black pepper (see recipe notes)
- Honey
- sesame oil
- Beef sliced thinly – I used frozen hot pot beef slices
- Cooked jasmine rice / Japanese rice
- sweet corn
- onion
- butter
- edible oil
Recipe Instructions and Cooking Tips
- one cast iron pot will replicate the best flavor, but you can definitely use a regular pan for this recipe.
- Coarse black pepper has better flavor and sharpness than ground pepper.
- Using short-grain rice like Japanese rice or jasmine rice is essential for recipes. They have a slightly sticky texture that adheres perfectly to sauces in a way that long-grain rice can’t.
- If you prefer, you can use day-old rice for this recipe. Using leftover rice will create a texture more like fried rice.
- To avoid a soggy dish, add only half the sauce to the pan at first. Once everything is cooked, you can always add more sauce.
- Not in the mood for beef? Why not try salmon fillets, chicken, or even tofu instead!
Discover more Japanese inspired recipes
Viral Japanese Butter Fried Sandwich
Easy Garlic Clam Miso Noodle Soup
Pepper Lunch Beef Pepper Rice Recipe (Japanese Teppanyaki Rice)
Pepper Lunch’s Beef Pepper Rice is a quick and easy Japanese sizzling rice dish that can be easily made at home in 20 minutes using simple pantry ingredients!
sauce ingredients
- 3 spoon light soy sauce
- 1 spoon Oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon Coarse black pepper
- 3 clove garlic minced
- 1½ spoon Honey
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 cup Japanese rice/jasmine rice cooked
- 90 gram Beef sliced thinly
- 1/4-1/2 onion cut very finely
- ⅓ cup sweet corn
- 2 twig onion
- ½-1 spoon butter Elective
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In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, honey, sesame oil, minced garlic, and black pepper. Set aside.
3 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper, 3 cloves garlic, 1½ tablespoons honey, ½ teaspoon sesame oil
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Heat pot over medium-high heat. Add a small amount of cooking oil to the pan and add the sliced onions.
1/4-1/2 onion
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Sauté the onions for 1-2 minutes, then flip the bowl of rice in the center of the pan onto the bed of onions.
1 cup Japanese/jasmine rice
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Arrange the beef slices around the rice and top with the sweetcorn and scallions.
90 g thinly sliced beef, ⅓ cup sweet corn, 2 sprigs of green onions
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Pour half the sauce into the pan and add the butter over the rice.
½-1 tablespoon butter
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Add everything together to the hot pan and let the beef cook and the butter melt into the rice.
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Let the rice sit on the hot pan for about 30 seconds to allow the bottom to crisp up and caramelize.
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Once the beef is fully cooked and everything is well mixed, serve hot with the remaining sauce straight from the pan.
Japanese rice and jasmine rice are both short-grain rice with a slightly sticky texture that adheres well to sauces and is an essential part of this recipe.
You can use leftover rice for this recipe so it tastes more like fried rice.
Use only half the sauce when cooking in the pot to avoid having too much sauce and causing soggy rice. You can always add more when serving.
Other protein alternatives: salmon, chicken, tofu, etc.
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