Frying Peppers
I had forgotten this but the first time I had shishito peppers was when I was in Spain. There were served as tapas somewhere in Barcelona or Salamanca while I was visiting my study abroad live abroad brother. I was doing my best to fit in by drinking wine, beer and even the occasional scotch and soda, somewhere between the ham, cheese, bread, olives, pig’s tail, tortillas, sausage and yummy things from the sea, there were blistered peppers in olive oil and salt. Fast forward to this summer and while visiting family in Greensboro I went to their downtown famers market, where a lady was selling “frying peppers”. I was intrigued so she explained to me how to cook them and of course I said I can grill that, so we had some that night and they were excellent. The next time I talked to my brother on the phone I mentioned them and said I couldn’t find them at any famers markets here. He told me they had them at Trader Joe’s and then he reminded me that they were served as tapas, oh yea I totally forgot.
Shishito peppers are traditionally blistered or fried in a pan with olive oil and served on a plate with sea salt sprinkled over them. You simply pick them up by the steams and eat. As my wife can attest to 1 in 10 are hot, (she got 2 in row one time and there were no other hot ones out of the batch) I like to say it’s lucky to eat the hot one I mean what else can you say to someone who’s mouth is on fire and is looking at you like you betrayed them.
Well my take on the peppers is this, toss them olive oil then place on a hot grill and cook on high until they are soft and blistered but not burnt.
Depending on your grill grate you want to use a veggie basket or grill try so you don’t lose any. Depending on the size of the peppers they be ready at different times, just take them off as needed.
It shouldn’t take more than 10 mins to do a whole grill full of them, so just hang out and keep an eye on them. Finally take them off put them on a plate and sprinkle sea salt over them and serve
Hope you enjoy









