Shishito Peppers with Sweet Paprika Aioli
A Light Snackable With a Bit of a Kick
It is Shishito Pepper season and you need to be eating this delightful green treat. If you aren’t familiar with shishitos, we see them here in the Midwest in the late summer months.
As someone with a taste for spice that doesn’t want to burn my tastebuds entirely, I find these peppers are the Goldilocks option for spiciness.
Shishitos have a slightly sweet flavor with a hint of smokiness. Only one in ten are actually hot and spicy. The rest have spice to them but not a major heat.
They make a great snack food and pair well with your favorite summer wines. The entire pepper is completely edible except for the stem.
There is a full, printable recipe card at the end of this post but first I’ve got some tips and shishito secrets for you.
Spicy Skepticism
Shishito peppers are a great introductory pepper if you’re spice-curious but are scared to jump into your Carolina Reapers or Ghost Peppers.
While around 10% of the peppers are spicier, even those ones are about as spicy as a jalapeño. You can also always take a small bite of each pepper before eating it properly just to be safe.
On the other hand, the peppers are so tasty and snackable you might find it challenging to take the cautious approach.
Blistered Bliss
While you could experiment with all different kinds of cooking methods, there’s a reason the trend tends towards the blistered direction as it accentuates the favor and leads to an ideal finger food.
While this recipe is for pan frying, you could also try a traditional Japanese preparation of yakitori skewers. You can poke a skewer through multiple shishitos and grill them.
You could even mix in some meats or other vegetables and brush the whole thing in soy sauce. If you really want to go wild you could attempt your own deep fry breaded tempura with a panko dip but be careful for oil splatter!
Look, I’m just tossing ideas out, but once you try this shishito recipe I have a feeling you’ll want to have them again, so I’m letting you know what options are out there.
Feeling Saucy
I think the aioli in this recipe is a perfect compliment to the shishitos, but I know not everyone loves mayonnaise the way I do.
You can always just use a low sodium soy sauce if you want something light or use some spicy Sriracha if the one in ten odds are too low for you.
Shishito Peppers with Sweet Paprika Aioli Recipe
A great summer appetizer with a mild kick.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Shishito Peppers
- 2 T. Olive Oil
- 1 Toothpick
- 1/3 C. Mayonnaise
- 1 T. Sweet Paprika
- 1 Lemon
- 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
- Sea Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash your peppers well and make sure they are dried completely on a paper towel.
- Take your toothpick and poke a small hole in each of the peppers somewhere in the middle of the pepper. This is to prevent them from popping when you blister them.
- Heat a skillet until it is very hot but not smoking and add your olive oil.
- Toss the peppers into the skillet and use tongs to continuously turn the peppers until all sides of the peppers are blistered. You will be able to see the skin bubbling up. It is ok to see some char marks on some of the peppers.
- Transfer to a platter and squeeze half a lemon and a toss of sea salt over the peppers.
- To make the aioli, combine the mayo, paprika, garlic powder, and juice from half a lemon in a bowl and combine well.
- To eat, dip the peppers in the aioli and then you can eat the whole pepper, except for the stem.
I call this pepper the popcorn of peppers because you can’t eat just one. Once you try this there is no turning back. Enjoy!
For another great summer recipe, check out my recipe for Dressed Up Hot Dogs.
