Blistered Shishito Peppers
September 11, 2009 by admin
Life’s been busy for us lately so we haven’t been able to update as frequently as we like. Things are slowly getting back to normal now so hopefully the postings will increase in frequency.
One of the many reasons we’ve been out of touch is we moved and as anybody who has ever moved knows, takeout was aplenty. To ease back into cooking in our new apartment, I stopped by the Dag Hammerskjold’s farmer’s market last Wednesday to grab some fresh vegetables. Most need little effort to make them delicious (i.e.; steamed corn on the cob, cut up raw tomato, etc…) and these babies were no exception.
I saw shishito peppers in a little wicker basket by the checkout counter and initially their potential for heat is what drew me to them. The accompanying sign said the peppers were actually very mild despite their intimidating compactness and at best, one in a dozen would have a small bite. I was about to pass them up when the person in front of me in line picked up a few and told me that they were his favorite kind of pepper. I asked him how he prepared them and when he told me how simple it was, I knew these would be just the thing to get back onto the cooking saddle.
This dish took about a minute to prep and a mere five more to cook. True to the sign, only one out of the 15 that I had bought was spicy, but that was of little consequence. These were delicious and despite their small stature; surprisingly meaty. The flavor of the pepper was familiar but unique at the same time. At first, it tasted like a sweeter, more tender green pepper but afterward, there was a small numbing effect in the mouth. The best part was that the whole pepper could be eaten (minus stem) so we popped them into our mouths like candy while we continued to unpack and settle in.
Blistered Shishito Peppers
As many peppers as you’d like (I’d suggest about 6-8 a person)
Olive oil
Coarse kosher salt or sea salt
Heat a cast-iron skillet on high while you prep the peppers. In a bowl, toss together the whole peppers with enough olive oil to thinly coat them.
When the pan is screaming hot, throw the peppers on in one layer. Do a second batch if you have too many. The worst thing you could do is here is to not have the pepper directly touching the pan.
Let the skins blister and pop, and then rotate.
When the peppers are as toasty as you’d like, remove from the heat and sprinkle liberally with salt.
Enjoy!
Tags:peppers
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