Japanese Shishito Peppers

We ate shishito peppers at Shojin Restaurant in Little Tokyo a few weeks ago. There, you can order them under the appetizer menu, and they're served with a garlic scallion sauce. So good!

The last time I went to Nijiya Market, I saw them and had to try to make them at home.

I simply stir-fried two packages of the peppers with 2 cloves of garlic and a slice of fresh ginger, minced, with a tablespoon of teriyaki sauce.

The whole prep and cooking time took less than 15 minutes.

Fast & easy!

Shishito peppers are mild. Occasionally, there might be a spicy one, but it's not the norm. I actually wish they had a bite to them, but I added the chili flakes and that does the trick for heat. 

They're thin walled, not thick walled like jalapenos.

Give them a quick rinse and they're ready to go.

I chopped 2 cloves of garlic and added a few grinds of sea salt.

Then used the flat part of my knife to mash the garlic.

Mince a slice of fresh ginger.

I keep my ginger in the freezer. I have some for grating and some sliced, that makes it readily available so you always have some on hand.

I also used 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a wok or frying pan and cook the garlic, ginger and red peppers for a few seconds.

Then add the shishito peppers and toss to coat them with the oil mixture.

Add about 1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce.

Stir to coat the peppers.

Cover and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

They're done!

That's it!

You don't want them to be too soft, a little crunch to them is good.

Don't eat the caps at the stem.

The shishito peppers are good served with some barley brown rice.

The recipe for the barley brown rice and the teriyaki sauce can be found here, in the Teriyaki Chicken post.

Shishito peppers are also good with a squeeze of lemon and a splash of shoyu or with a little bit of daikon oroshi.

Douzo meshiagare!

(Enjoy your meal!)

***

My father-in-law's family grows shishito peppers in Japan.

They didn't grow them while he lived there when he was growing up, they started growing them after he and his siblings returned to the US.

This is my father-in-law.

He's had a lot of passions in his life, photography being one of them.

As he's gotten older, he's had to give up his hobbies, one-by-one.

Bonsai. Ceramics. Photography. Go.

But not baseball. He loves baseball.

He is now 90+ years old, and he's found a new passion.

Haiku.

He writes haiku in Japanese.

He says sometimes he can't sleep at night because the haiku in his head keep him awake.

And he loves food.

Fish and spicy food.

I think the Food-jimotos get their appetite from him!

No printable recipe for this one yet.