Monday, November 10, 2008

Shisito Peppers

I picked up an absolutely gorgeous bunch of shisito peppers at Marukai a few days back. I had read that they're like pimientos de padrón, so I decided to cook them that way - very small amount of oil, cook over high-ish heat until the skins start blistering, blot on paper, sprinkle with salt. I had also heard that, like pimientos de padrón, 1 in 10 is spicy. So I cooked 10 of them.















Spicy? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, yes! Not very, but my lips were tingling for a few minutes. Other than that, how to describe the taste? Like a pepper. More specific? Like a pasilla, but very thin flesh and skin. I typically detest pepper skin, but I had no problem with these, the whole thing was very light and delicate.

Would I make them again? Yup, but probably as a part of a tapas party, antipasto platter, etc.

6 comments:

Betts said...

You were brave to try them.

Vicki said...

Hi Betts - I love chiles, so it wasn't too scary :)

Ian said...

We don't get them in the UK although we do get some of the really spicy ones like Naga Morich and Bhut Jolokia. I tried this in San Francisco as a Tapa's kind of dish with smoked salt. They would go down really well as a bar snack in a good pub. I'm in the states in a few weeks so I might pick up a few seed if I can find some.

Vicki said...

Hi D - I did them again just recently with sea salt and lemon juice, delicious! I think I'll pass on the Bhut Jolokia, though :)

Ian said...

I've tracked down some pimientos de padron so will be trying those quite soon. I'm going to try to make some smoked salt on my barbecue over the weekend so we'll see. In any case, I'm back in Frisco in less than a month now, so I'm sure I'll get some soon.

Vicki said...

Hi again D - I cheated and bought the smoked salt. Kudos to you for trying to make your own, and have fun with your peppers!