Shishito peppers (pronounced shee-SHEE-toh) are fun to serve when sauteed in a little oil and salt. Blistered shishito peppers are perfect with your favorite ale or any other drink. These peppers are gorgeous to look at - bright green with crinkly texture. They are pretty mild in taste and not spicy. (But there might be one in a few that are pretty hot). 🙂
If you are looking for summer-y appetizers/snacks to add to your menu, try this pan-seared corn which is one of our favorites to make.
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Full recipe + measurements + video can be found in the recipe card below.
What Are Shishito Peppers?
A quick google search will tell you that these are fresh green peppers that are relatively milder in taste and belong to the capsicum annum family. If you are not into science-y, nerdy stuff, they look like the picture below:
They are slender, thin-skinned, and relatively mild. This makes them perfect for blistering or charring. They are green when immature and turn red when mature like most of the peppers. You will usually find green ones in the market, but red ones are also okay to use in the recipe.
Tips & Tricks
These peppers are super easy to prepare. Just roast them in a large skillet with a little bit of oil, sprinkle with some salt, and ta-da! Even though, this dish comes together in a cinch, keep these tips in mind to get them perfect every single time:
- Wash and pat dry the peppers before using in the recipe.
- Do NOT remove the stem. You can hold the stem while eating them as finger food.
- Use a heavy duty nonstick skillet or a well-seasoned cast iron skillet for best results.
- I use medium or medium high heat while cooking instead of high heat.
- Drizzle a little salt to speed up the charring. Finish off with some flaky sea salt.
- Do not cover with a lid while cooking. See the next bullet point 🙂
- These peppers might burst during the cooking process. To prevent that, poke a hole in each of them. Since this is time consuming, I use a mesh lid to cover the peppers while cooking. The mesh lid not only prevents the steaming, also protects if peppers burst in the skillet.
- Do NOT over crowd the skillet. Work in batches if making larger quantities.
- Use good quality olive oil and flaky sea salt.
What Else Can You Use Shishito Peppers For?
Charring the shishito peppers is not the only way I use them. Try out a few of these ideas below and let me know your favorite.
- Use them diced small in salads.
- Cut them crosswise and use them as pizza toppings.
- Add them (finely chopped) to your pakora batter.
What To Serve With Shishito Peppers?
I do serve these shishito peppers as an appetizer or a side with the above dishes, I also use it along with my South Indian meals. Are you familiar with Mulakku Kondattaom? Mulakku Kondattom is mild green chilies soaked in yogurt and sun-dried. These are then deep-fried and served with curd rice or any South Indian meal. I use these blistered shishito peppers as a side for my South Indian meals. :). They kinda mimic the mulakku kondattom feel, though not deep-fried. It is tasty, do try.
How To Cook Shishito Peppers?
All you need is a skillet and a cooking spoon. :). And if you are not very comfortable, get a mesh lid (see the Tips above) and you are all set.
Wash & pat dry the peppers.
Heat the skillet on medium-high heat. Add olive oil. Add the shishito peppers. Sprinkle a little salt (This is optional - I find that this speeds up the cooking process slightly).
Let the peppers cook for about 6-8 minutes or until charred on all sides and are tender. Stir occasionally, every minute or so. Give the peppers to char & brown and turn a little bit tender before stirring them.
Remove from heat. Sprinkle a generous amount of flaky sea salt.
Optional: You can sprinkle some lemon zest and drizzle lemon juice if you like.
Storing Leftovers
You can refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight container. Use with 2-3 days. They do lose their vibrant green color on cooling.
I prefer to reheat them on a skillet on the stovetop, though you could reheat them using a microwave.
Where To Buy Shishito Peppers?
Look for Shishito peppers at Asian supermarkets, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe's. Sometimes, my local grocer also carries them.
Blistered Shishito Peppers
Equipment
- Large Skillet
- cooking spoons
- Bowl
- Kitchen Towel
- Mesh Lid
Ingredients
- 200 grams (0.4lb) shishito peppers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt to taste
- flaky sea salt
- lemon zest optional
- lemon juice to taste optional
Instructions
- Wash & pat dry the peppers.
- Heat the skillet on medium-high heat. Add olive oil. Add the shishito peppers.
- Sprinkle a little salt. ( optional - this might speed up the cooking process slightly).
- Let the peppers cook for about 6-8 minutes or until they are charred & just tender. Stir occasionally - every minute or two. Once you stir, give them a minute to char & brown before you stir again. [Note: You can turn up the heat to medium-high].
- Remove from heat. Sprinkle a generous amount of flaky sea salt. Serve.
- Optional: You can sprinkle some lemon zest and drizzle lemon juice.
Video
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