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These cast iron blistered shishito peppers with soy garlic sauce will have you skipping them on restaurant menus and making them at home instead! This quick and easy pepper recipe is perfect for a nutritious snack, appetizer, or side dish.
What are shishito peppers?
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Do you have a go-to appetizer that you know will be good? Shishito peppers are that app for me.
Shishito peppers are a mild green pepper from East Asia. They say that about 1 in every 10 shishito peppers are hot, but I typically never encounter spicy ones.
Although you can eat shishito peppers raw, they’re most delicious when sautéed, grilled, or roasted with oil and a bit of flaky sea salt. My favorite way to enjoy them is, of course, blistered in a cast iron skillet.
Why this shishito peppers recipe works
- These shishito peppers are blistered to perfection, giving them a complex, charred, smoky flavor.
- Sesame oil adds a delicious, nutty flavor that perfectly compliments the peppers.
- Blistering these peppers gives them a satisfying crunch in contrast to their juicy insides.
- Optional soy garlic sauce takes this appetizer to the next level, giving it a sweet, umami flavor with added garlic, chili sauce, and honey.
Ingredients needed
Here’s everything you’ll need…
- Shishito peppers
- Toasted sesame oil
- Garlic
- Low-sodium soy sauce
- Huy Fong chili garlic sauce
- Honey
- Sesame seeds
Are shishito peppers hot?
Shishito peppers are very mild (think green bell peppers), so they should be suitable for all spice tolerances. Do note that sometimes, you’ll get a random pepper with a slight kick to it!
How to cook shishito peppers
Cooking these shishito peppers takes just 10 minutes for an unreal flavor. While “blistering” may sound intimidating, it’s really just a fancy way of grilling your peppers until they have a nice char. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Blister shishito peppers
- Drizzle 1 tablespoon of sesame oil in a cast iron skillet and turn your heat to medium-high.
- Add 6oz of peppers to the skillet and leave them undisturbed for two minutes.
- For the next eight minutes, begin pushing your peppers around the skillet, letting them blister on all sides.
- Your peppers will start to pop as they heat up. After ten minutes, take a knife and carefully pop any peppers that have failed to do so.
- Remove your peppers from the heat source once they’ve finished blistering.
BLISTERING tip:
The high, evenly dispersed heat in a cast iron skillet is the quickest way to achieve the perfect blistered char on shishitos. If you don’t have a cast iron, a regular skillet will work, too.
Step 2: Coat in soy garlic sauce
These shishito peppers are delicious on their own, so skip this step if you prefer a subtler flavor.
- Create your soy garlic sauce by whisking together 2 cloves of garlic, 2 1/2 teaspoons of low-sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon of honey, and 3/4 teaspoon of Huy Fong garlic chili sauce.
- Add your prepared sauce to the hot skillet. It will steam at this point.
- Toss your blistered peppers in the soy garlic sauce until each piece is well-coated.
SAUCE Tip:
Remove the cast iron from the heat before pouring the sauce in. This will prevent the garlic and honey from burning.
Step 3: Garnish and enjoy!
- Garnish your shishito peppers with toasted sesame seeds.
- These peppers are best enjoyed right away while they’re still warm from the skillet.
How do you eat shishito peppers?
To eat these shishito peppers, grab them by the stem and eat the entire pepper—just remember to toss the stem aside.
Are shishito peppers good the next day?
While these peppers are best eaten warm from the skillet, they are still tasty the next day. The texture will be softer, losing some of that crispy char from the blistering process.
To regain some of that crisp, I recommend reheating them in a cast iron skillet.
If you still don’t love the texture, chop your blistered peppers up and add them to another dish, like a stir fry or salad.
How to serve blistered shishito peppers
These blistered peppers make a delicious snack all on their own, topped with sesame seeds and dipped into some Kewpie mayo.
They’d also make a tasty side to any of your go-to dinners, particularly those with an Asian influence like my spicy chicken stir fry, vegetable low mein, or Szechuan cold sesame noodles.
Finally, shishito peppers have quickly become a tapas staple. Serve up your very own “girl dinner,” including various small bites like my crispy tostones, garlic parmesan smashed potatoes, and honey-roasted coriander carrots.
How to store blistered shishito peppers
You can safely store these blistered peppers refrigerated in an airtight container. They’ll be good for up to three days but will definitely decline in both texture and flavor.
To give them a little extra life, make sure your peppers have completely cooled before storing them, and keep them in the crisper drawer for the most consistent temperature.
Love this appetizer? Try out these other recipes:
- Cast Iron Garlic Butter Dinner Rolls
- Fried Goat Cheese and Roasted Beet Salad
- Grilled Corn Halloumi Salad
- Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Rolls With Spicy Peanut Sauce
- Grilled Romaine Lettuce With Parmesan Vinaigrette
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Shishito Peppers with Soy Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 ounces Shishito Peppers
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon Huy Fong chili garlic sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- Garnish: toasted sesame seeds
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Equipment
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Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk together: 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, minced garlic, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and honey. Set aside.
- In a cast iron skillet over medium/high heat, add 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil. Add the shishito peppers and cook for 10 minutes, allowing them to blister/brown on each side. Caution: they will pop as they cook, if they have not popped by the end of the cook time take a knife and carefully pierce to pop.
- Remove from heat and add the soy garlic sauce, toss/mix the Shishito’s in the sauce for one minute in the pan.
- Move shishito peppers and sauce into a bowl and top with toasted sesame seeds. To eat: grab by the stem and eat pepper, discarding the stem. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can double the shishitos and soy garlic sauce ingredients for more servings
- Shishito peppers are best enjoyed right away while warm
Easy and very tasty recipe. As good as any served in restaurants
My kids fight over who gets more!
These are awesome. Yes they’re great warm but use the leftover to top a salad!
So good!!!!
Such a great idea for leftovers Holl! Thanks!
Easy to make and so good!
Love this recipe! It’s easy to make and everyone loves it! Thanks!
This is my go-to recipe for a perfect app for a dinner party. Guests love it, they have fun watching, and it’s not too heavy to alter appetites for dinner. I’ve tried a few and my spouse says this is better than what we get at restaurants. Great recipe!
Matt I’m so glad you all loved the recipe! Thank you so much for making it!
Thanks for this awesome recipe Stephanie, best shishito recipe I’ve had (and I’ve tried a few). The key is taking the pan off the heat before adding your delicious sauce mixture, like you indicated. With other recipes, I’ve burned the soy sauce.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Tyler! I too have burnt many sauces leaving it on the heat haha
Second time I made these and absolutely love them. So easy to make and so much flavor!!!
I’m so glad you loved them Connie!
Looks great – don’t have any huy fung garlic chilli sauce though.
Hi Doug, you can just omit the chili sauce
These were amazing and so easy to make!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Deb!
These look delicious. Thank you.