Skip to main content

Sautéed Shishito Peppers

5.0

(17)

Image may contain Plant Animal Seafood Food Lobster Sea Life Fruit Citrus Fruit and Vegetable
Sautéed Shishito Peppers: Summer's Best New BiteChristopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton © 2013

Sautéed shishitos are absolutely the best thing to nibble on with drinks, and they're insanely easy to prepare. Padrón peppers can be treated exactly the same way, but they can be hot, so choose accordingly.

Ingredients

olive oil
shishito peppers
sea salt
fresh lemon juice

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat a little olive oil in a wide sauté pan until it is good and hot but not smoking. Add the peppers and cook them over medium, tossing and turning them frequently until they blister. They shouldn't char except in places. Don't rush. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to cook a panful of peppers. When they're done, toss them with sea salt and add a squeeze of fresh lemon. Slide the peppers into a bowl and serve them hot. You pick them up by the stem end and eat the whole thing, minus the stem, that is.

    Step 2

    You can probably do fancier, cheffy things with them, but they're terrific like this. For variety, I sometimes use a little toasted sesame oil instead of olive oil and finish them with togarashi. If you have leftovers, an unlikely event in my experience, chop off the stems and put the peppers in an omelet or some scrambled eggs.

Reprinted with permission from Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes by Deborah Madison. Copyright © 2013 by Deborah Madison; photographs copyright © 2013 by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc. Deborah Madison is the author of eleven cookbooks and is well known for her simple, seasonal, vegetable-based cooking. She got her start in the San Francisco Bay Area at Chez Panisse before opening Greens, and has lived in New Mexico for the last twenty years. In addition to writing and teaching, she has served on the boards of Slow Food International Biodiversity Committee, the Seed Savers Exchange, and the Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance, among others. She is actively involved in the issues of biodiversity, gardening, and sustainable agriculture.
Read More
Fufu is a dish that has been passed down through many generations and is seen as a symbol of Ghanaian identity and heritage. Making fufu traditionally is a very laborious task; this recipe mimics some of that hard work but with a few home-cook hacks that make for a far easier time.
The kimchi brine is the secret hero here; just a splash of it brightens the cocktail while deepening it with a little funky je ne sais quoi.
This vegan version of the classic North African scramble uses soft silken tofu instead of eggs without any sacrifice of flavor.
Bugak is the ideal light beer snack: It’s crunchy, salty, and the fresher it’s made, the better. Thin sheets of kimchi add an extra spicy savory layer.
Native American people made these with cornmeal dumplings, simmering them with wild grapes, which were harvested at their peak sweetness.
Cool off with this easy zaru soba recipe: a Japanese dish of chewy buckwheat noodles served with chilled mentsuyu dipping sauce, daikon, nori, and scallions.
Every sauce needs a few secrets. Ours is smoky, sweet, and savory—use it for burgers, fries, tenders, and more.
The clams’ natural briny sweetness serves as a surprising foil for the tender fritter batter—just be sure to pull off the tough outer coating of the siphon.