I have a drop dead obsession with shishito peppers and it has been going on for quite some time. If Pete and I are out at a restaurant and they are on the menu, we get them no questions asked, and Pete knows better than to get in my way. I take them all down, no question. I don’t why, but they are just my favorite.

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

If you guys are regular readers, do you remember when I ate that nuclear pepper out of my moms garden this last summer? I thought it was going to be like a shishito pepper. I dreamed of it, right up until it destroyed me and I spent 10 minutes wishing I was dead from the pain… (lesson is: don’t eat peppers that you don’t know the spice level of.)

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

And now, with winter, I have had a sad hiatus from my favorite little snack until recently. When I went to Chicago a few weeks ago I had an amazing dinner at The Girl and the Goat. They were beyond accommodating for all of my food allergies, and it was one of the best meals I have had in the last year. One of the dishes they brought out were shishitos in a sesame sauce. Everyone else in the party had cheese and breadcrumbs in their dish, but they made mine vegan. No one else wanted the vegan dish, so I got them to myself- which was to my great pleasure by the way. I was with a group and desperately not wanting to immediately show them what a piggie I am, but then I couldn’t help myself and I went ahead and finished off the whole “family style” dish by myself. I looked super elegant with 75 little pepper stems lined up on the side of my plate. But whatever- they were so good.

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

And then a few days after I got back from Chicago we went to a dinner party at a friends house and he had made an amazing shishito pepper dish. I knew I had to make some asap, but I was kind of dragging my feet on having to drive all the way to the Asian grocer to get them. And then something magical happened. I was innocently browsing at Trader Joes when I laid eyes on the little gems. TJ’s is selling shishito peppers. So within an hour of being there, this rip off dish from the girl and the goat was happening and I could barely bother to take pictures before I downed the whole plate. All of them. Oink, oink.

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

Recipe: Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • 2 tablespoons hot water
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon agave
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • Kosher salt
  • 12 ounces shishito peppers
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • kosher salt
  • toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. In the jar of a blender add the sesame sauce ingredients except for the salt. Puree on high until you have a smooth sauce. Season to taste with kosher salt and set aside.
  2. Get a heavy pan or skillet blistering, smoking hot.
  3. Add the oil and then the peppers and cook them, stirring often for about 2 minutes until they are blistered and slightly charred as well as softened. Sprinkle them with kosher salt to taste.
  4. Transfer them to a serving bowl or platter and drizzle with a few spoonfuls of the sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 2 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 2

 

Print Recipe  

I have a drop dead obsession with shishito peppers and it has been going on for quite some time. If Pete and I are out at a restaurant and they are on the menu, we get them no questions asked, and Pete knows better than to get in my way. I take them all down, no question. I don’t why, but they are just my favorite.

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

If you guys are regular readers, do you remember when I ate that nuclear pepper out of my moms garden this last summer? I thought it was going to be like a shishito pepper. I dreamed of it, right up until it destroyed me and I spent 10 minutes wishing I was dead from the pain… (lesson is: don’t eat peppers that you don’t know the spice level of.)

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

And now, with winter, I have had a sad hiatus from my favorite little snack until recently. When I went to Chicago a few weeks ago I had an amazing dinner at The Girl and the Goat. They were beyond accommodating for all of my food allergies, and it was one of the best meals I have had in the last year. One of the dishes they brought out were shishitos in a sesame sauce. Everyone else in the party had cheese and breadcrumbs in their dish, but they made mine vegan. No one else wanted the vegan dish, so I got them to myself- which was to my great pleasure by the way. I was with a group and desperately not wanting to immediately show them what a piggie I am, but then I couldn’t help myself and I went ahead and finished off the whole “family style” dish by myself. I looked super elegant with 75 little pepper stems lined up on the side of my plate. But whatever- they were so good.

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

And then a few days after I got back from Chicago we went to a dinner party at a friends house and he had made an amazing shishito pepper dish. I knew I had to make some asap, but I was kind of dragging my feet on having to drive all the way to the Asian grocer to get them. And then something magical happened. I was innocently browsing at Trader Joes when I laid eyes on the little gems. TJ’s is selling shishito peppers. So within an hour of being there, this rip off dish from the girl and the goat was happening and I could barely bother to take pictures before I downed the whole plate. All of them. Oink, oink.

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

Recipe: Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sesame Sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • 2 tablespoons hot water
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon agave
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • Kosher salt
  • 12 ounces shishito peppers
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • kosher salt
  • toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. In the jar of a blender add the sesame sauce ingredients except for the salt. Puree on high until you have a smooth sauce. Season to taste with kosher salt and set aside.
  2. Get a heavy pan or skillet blistering, smoking hot.
  3. Add the oil and then the peppers and cook them, stirring often for about 2 minutes until they are blistered and slightly charred as well as softened. Sprinkle them with kosher salt to taste.
  4. Transfer them to a serving bowl or platter and drizzle with a few spoonfuls of the sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 2 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 2