Why this recipe works fried blistered little chile peppers that you pick up by the stems and pop into your mouth whole are much-desired menu items wherever trendy bar snacks are sold. Shishitos are what you usually find at Asian-style restaurants; they are the Japanese cousin to Spain’s Padrón chiles, which are prevalent at tapas restaurants. These bright-tasting, citrusy, mild green chiles are thin-skinned and crisp-textured and altogether addictive. Restaurants often deep-fry the whole shishitos, but we have found that cooking them in a small amount of oil works just as well. The larger granules of kosher salt sprinkled on top add a wonderful crunch, but you can use regular table salt instead, if you prefer. It’s said that only one in ten shishito peppers is truly spicy, so happy hunting!
SERVES: 4 to 6
TOTAL TIME: 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 8 ounces shishito peppers
- Kosher salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add shishito peppers and cook, without stirring, until skins are blistered, 3 to 5 minutes. Using tongs, flip peppers and continue to cook until blistered on second side, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl, season with salt to taste, and serve.
