Paripari Piman (Crispy Peppers with Shio-Dare & Miso Mayo)
Paripari piman (パリパリピーマン): raw peppers chilled in ice water until they crackle, served with shio-dare (a salt, sesame oil, and garlic dipping sauce). Miso mayo and a creamy spicy tofu dip are optional extras. It's a classic motsuyaki izakaya starter.
Ice-cold, snappy raw peppers with a garlicky salt-sesame dip. The ¥300 izakaya plate you'll keep reordering.
Yield
2–4 portions (as a snack)
Time
20 minutes
Equipment
- Bowl of ice water
- Cutting board + chef knife
- Two small dipping dishes
- Small bowl + whisk
Ingredients
- Peppers
- 4–5 Japanese piman or 2 small green bell peppers (mixed colors are fine)
- Shio-dare
- 20 g toasted sesame oil
- 3 g garlic, finely grated
- 2 g torigara (chicken bouillon powder) or kombu dashi powder
- 2 g salt
- 2 g toasted white sesame seeds
- 5 g scallion, minced
- Pinch of black pepper
- Optional: a few drops of lemon juice
- Miso mayo (optional)
- 30 g Kewpie mayonnaise
- 10 g white or awase miso
- Pinch of ichimi or shichimi togarashi
- Spicy tofu dip (optional)
- 150 g silken tofu, drained
- 15 g white (shiro) miso
- 10 g neri goma (Japanese sesame paste) or tahini
- 5 g tobanjan (chili bean paste)
- 5 g rayu (chili oil), plus more to finish
- 5 g rice vinegar
- 3 g sugar
- 2 g garlic, grated
- Pinch of salt
- To serve
- Bowl of ice
- Toasted sesame seeds, sliced scallion, shichimi (for the tofu dip)
Instructions
- Cut the peppers into wide wedges or quarters, removing the stems, seeds, and ribs.
- Soak in ice water for 10 minutes so they turn extra crisp (paripari). Drain and pat dry.
- Shio-dare: stir the sesame oil, garlic, torigara, salt, sesame seeds, scallion, and pepper together until the salt mostly dissolves. Add a few drops of lemon if you like. Let it sit 5 minutes for the garlic to bloom.
- Miso mayo (optional): whisk the Kewpie, miso, and togarashi until smooth.
- Spicy tofu dip (optional): wrap the tofu in paper towels and drain 15 minutes. Blend with the miso, sesame paste, tobanjan, rayu, vinegar, sugar, and garlic until smooth and glossy, then season with salt. Chill 15 minutes to thicken. Serve drizzled with rayu and topped with sesame, scallion, and shichimi.
- Serve the peppers piled over ice with the dips on the side.
Why It Works
An ice-water soak firms up the pepper's cell walls, so each bite snaps loudly and tastes sweeter and cleaner. That's the "paripari" (crackly) in the name. Shio-dare is the all-purpose izakaya dip: salt and chicken bouillon bring savory depth, raw garlic and toasted sesame oil bring aroma, and the oil clings to the pepper's waxy skin better than a watery sauce would. Miso mayo is the rich, funky alternative. Together they turn a plain pepper into something you can't stop eating with a cold beer.
Pairings
- Ice-cold Japanese lager, a highball, or a lemon sour
- From the same board: karikari cheese, shio-dare kyuri, atsuage tartar
- Leftover shio-dare: great on cucumber, cabbage, grilled meats, or tofu
Tasting Journal
Where I had it: Motsuyaki Sakaba Tonbou (もつ焼き酒場 豚坊) near Ameyoko in Ueno, Tokyo, September 2026. It was on the handwritten specials board as パリパリピーマン (¥300). The photo shows the peppers and dip behind the karikari cheese and edamame.