Holy Shishito!

Finally saw some shishito peppers in the store and grabbed some. A favourite, they are for the most part pretty mild and you blister them a bit in a pan, throw some coarse salt on them and dig in, munching everything but the stems. The (sort of) fun part is that about one in 20 of them turns out to be several times as hot as the others so it is like playing Russian roulette waiting to see who hits a hot one.

[Jenise]

If you want to elevate them, finish them on the plate with a snowfall of Japanese bonito flakes. YUM.

Finally saw some shishito peppers in the store and grabbed some. A favourite, they are for the most part pretty mild and you blister them a bit in a pan, throw some coarse salt on them and dig in, munching everything but the stems. The (sort of) fun part is that about one in 20 of them turns out to be several times as hot as the others so it is like playing Russian roulette waiting to see who hits a hot one.

The same happens with Big Jim (med-hot) chiles. Every once in a while....

I always say 1 in 10, Bill says 1 in 20. I'm going to do a tally next few times we have shishitos, so we have an official hot/not ratio!

I've been eating those babies for a couple of months now. Red Gate Ranch in Red Bluff comes to Farmer's Market on Saturdays and they must have had a bumper crop this year. I love it when I get THAT hot one.
They are also good roasted in a sheet pan with lots of other peppers and veggies.

The ones I got are larger than normal. It is fun munching on them in a group - it doesn't take long to know who just got a hot one! I tried them with alder smoked salt - very good!

[Jenise]

Finally saw some shishito peppers in the store and grabbed some. A favourite, they are for the most part pretty mild and you blister them a bit in a pan, throw some coarse salt on them and dig in, munching everything but the stems. The (sort of) fun part is that about one in 20 of them turns out to be several times as hot as the others so it is like playing Russian roulette waiting to see who hits a hot one.

The same happens with Big Jim (med-hot) chiles. Every once in a while....

And jalapenos. AFAIK, all 'mild' chiles can go there.

My local supermarket routinely has shishitos but I've never tried them. Now I'm intrigued.

-Paul W.

Oh, Paul, definitely try them. They are not a heat experience -- usually -- but they are juicy and tangy and smoky (if you char them like you should!) and salty (if you throw salt on them like you should!).

Seattle Tilth has an Urban Farm and Community U-Pick garden a couple miles from my home. This year they planted a row of shisito peppers. I was so shocked and completely surprised. I harvested all that I could find a couple weeks ago and pan roasted them for dinner that evening. I was a happy camper as I've only had them as an appetizer at a restaurant. I hope they plant them again this coming summer. You never know what you are going to find there as the community garden often have experimental plants grown from seeds offered to them by our immigrant neighbors. They also had black (Spanish) radish which I had never seen. I cooked them up in a fried rice dish I made that evening. Hope they plant those again too.

Tilth.jpg

[Jenise]

H Mart always has them, Jo Ann, if you need more though of course they won't be as good as what came from the Tilth garden!

BTW, the only trick to cooking them is to sear them in enough oil that the salt sticks to them, otherwise it falls off. I use kosher salt.