Shishito Peppers appear on the menu’s at all manner of high end Japanese restaurants, but you can put them on your table and impress your friends surprising easily. For something that seems really exotic and I have
always found to be a crowd pleaser these are shocking easy to make. The other nice thing about them is that they scale well for a crowd – need to feed three? or 13? just get a larger pan. Total ingredient counts are low, prep work is light and you need just one fry pan (or cast iron skillet). Follow these steps and you’ll be impressing your friends in no time, OK more like 5 minutes.
5 Basic ingredients, added in this order:
- Sesame oil or olive oil.
- Red chili pepper flake.
- Shishito peppers (4-6 per person).
- Low sodium soy sauce.
- Fresh ground pepper.
How to cook the Shishito peppers:
- Wash and dry your shishitos
- Coat base of your pan w/oil and heat to just shy of smoking.
- Add a dash of red chili flake – this is really up to your taste. Let it Bloom in the pan.
- Throw in the washed and dried shishito peppers.
- Blister on high heat until they resemble the picture.
- Kill the heat and toss with soy.
- Plate and serve with fresh ground pepper to taste.
- Enjoy immediately as they are best hot!
I love this dish because it scales up for large parties easily and doubles as a great side or appetizer. It also makes you look like a hero in the kitchen with very little work, more often than not I am making this while some protein we cooked is resting.