A close friend who always travels with gifts of perishable produce passed through town for the Thanksgiving holidays. He came bearing shishito peppers which we had never tried before. Our friend prepared them by roasting them over high heat in a heavy bottom cast iron skillet seasoned with a bit of grapeseed oil and sea salt. They only cooked for a few minutes until there skins were blistered and they were browned in spots– instantly a new favorite! Luckily he brought lots and left us with a large bag full which we have been enjoying for the last couple of days. Sadly we are close to the end. This morning I did a little internet research and found shishito seeds and ordered a bunch from Kitazawa Seed Co. Hopefully next summer we will succeed in growing our own.

The peppers are for the most part mild but occassionally you hit a hot one. The skin is very thin and it is easy to devour them in quantity.

The peppers are originally from Japan. The ones gifted to us were grown in Phoenix, from what I understand they are somewhat hard to come by but are gaining in popularity throughout the Southwest, especially in the Santa Fe area. Hoping we will be growing some here in DC this coming summer.