You Have to Fry Some Chichito Peppers in the Air
Shishito pepper is a very funny pepper. Most of them are soft and bright, but you get very sharp from time to time, and it is this tension that makes the shishito alluring. This, and they are great scoops.
Making shishito peppers has never been a big culinary challenge. You can roast them, grill them, or grate them in a hot skillet. Once you see the small charred bubbles, they are ready to eat. But while making shishito peppers has never been difficult, making them in a deep fryer is too easy.
The dozen peppers you see in the photo above were ready in just a minute and a half after my little fryer finished heating. I tossed them in a cool, unheated basket with enough olive oil to cover, then set the temperature to 400 ℉ and let them warm up with a tiny convection oven. All but a couple of peppers miraculously bubbled up just a minute after the stove hit the set temperature, and an extra 30 seconds took care of the last two.
The speed at which I can now cook and eat chichito peppers is almost dangerous, but luckily it is a vegetable and it is difficult to eat “too many” vegetables.
The real challenge is deciding what to dip them into. Anything with soy and ginger is fine, but I prefer to keep something creamy and cooling nearby in case I end up in a tongue burner. I make this duke’s mayonnaise with an extra pepper and I think it would go nicely with a slice of this pepper, but I always welcome more suggestions of dipping sauce.