I’ve started seeing shisito peppers on a lot of menus recently. So when my husband was at Trader Joe’s and spotted a bag, he picked some up, and I decided to put my own spin on a version we had at a tapas restaurant a few weeks ago.
Shisito peppers are one of those adrenaline snacks. I hear that about 1 in 10 is really spicy, so you never know when you’ll get the one. I decided to minimize the spice in the seasoning in the event of a double whammy when you get the sizzler.
Here’s how I prepared mine:
Spices (all in 1 tsp measurements, or to taste. I don’t actually measure my seasonings!):
- Sea salt
- Cumin
- Paprika
- Garlic powder
- juice of one small lemon (for the cashew cream only)
For the cashew cream, soak 1 cup of cashews for 1 to 4 hours (although a Vitamix technically can handle un-soaked nuts) to prepare cream. Strain the nuts and add 3/4 cup fresh water to a blender with the juice of one lemon, 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp salt. If mixture is too thick, slowly add more water until desired consistency is reached. I like it to be like a softened goat cheese. And if your body can handle dairy, by all means, try the peppers with a smokey goat cheese instead!
For the peppers, in a heated, large wok, drizzle a generous amount of avocado oil for searing. Add, 2 cups of whole shisito peppers and let them snap and crack. Toss them occasionally until their skins have blistered evenly. Add spices from the list of above except for lemon juice. These peppers can handle flavor, and they really soak up the salt. Don’t be afraid of over spicing or over salting. 1 to 2 tsps of each spice should be ok. Toss in the hot wok for a couple more minutes.
To serve, spoon the cashew cream into a bowl and pile the peppers on top. Serve as an appetizer or side dish and enjoy! But keep something around to rescue you when you get the hot one!
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