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Shisito Peppers Delivery or Pickup
The Instacart guide to shishito peppers
One of the joys of cooking is being able to experiment with different ingredients in hopes of producing a memorable taste. Nobody likes eating bland or boring food, which is where the pepper category comes into play. Peppers provide a unique spark to many meals by contributing mild, medium, and hot spices, helping bring out flavors in other foods. One of the newest peppers on the food scene is the shishito pepper, a close cousin to the bell pepper. If you're looking for new ways to spice up your cooking capabilities, read on for more about shishito peppers:
About shishito peppers
Shishito peppers are considered to be a chili pepper. They have a unique claim to fame: while the pepper overall is described as having a mild, almost sweet taste, every so often, you will bite into a shishito pepper that carries a larger kick than you were expecting. Food writers say this happens in about one of every 10 peppers, which allows for an interesting game of food "chicken" with meal mates. Who will get the shishito pepper with bite this time around?
Shishitos are considered hotter than bell peppers but milder than jalapenos, making them middle of the road in terms of a spice profile. They are increasingly popular as a meal starter, with both professional and home cooks serving them hot out of the pan after browning them with olive oil and sea salt. They can also be grilled and roasted.
Shishito peppers also work as a vegetable side dish or as an add-in to various recipes, particularly those featuring steak or beef. Shishito peppers are another example of produce that meets the definition of a fruit but is more widely considered a vegetable. Japanese and Korean recipes frequently include the shishito pepper as a way of adding bite to a dish.
How to pick out shishito peppers
The shishito presents a robust green color, similar to what you would expect with a green bell pepper. Shishitos are typically short, reaching full maturity at between 3 to 5 inches. Later in the harvest, shishito peppers begin turning to red color. The peppers are at their peak flavor when they are green but can also be harvested and consumed if they show a red outer shell. Shishito peppers also have a wrinkled texture. You may find the peppers being sold in a 12-count clamshell. If you prefer buying in bulk, you can also pick up a 10-pound box.
To store for longevity, keep shishito peppers in a plastic bag in your refrigerator. Keeping them in cold storage will extend the shishito pepper's shelf life. Another tip: Keep them free from moisture, which can cause significant problems for the peppers to retain their ripeness and trigger decay. They will generally last for upwards of two weeks.
What can you make with shishito peppers?
As an appetizer or starter dish, shishito peppers are easy to prepare. Coat them with a little oil, then toss them into a hot pan so that you quickly blacken or charbroil them. Drop them on a plate and add salt or other seasonings, and they are ready to eat. If you are not interested in blackened foods, you can also cook them more gently as a sauteed dish. They also respond well to pan-roasting and baking, and you can toss them into your air fryer. You might find them to be tasty with the addition of soy sauce or soy-ginger sauce.
Shishito peppers are also amenable to being turned into a spicy sauce that pairs well with chicken, and you can even make a shishito pepper soup -- if you dare.
Shisito Peppers Near Me
Buy your favorite Shisito Peppers online with Instacart. Order Shisito Peppers from local and national retailers near you and enjoy on-demand, contactless delivery or pickup within 2 hours.
FAQs about shishito peppers
Believe it or not, you can use an objective scale to determine the spiciness or "heat" of a pepper. It's called the Scoville Scale; it is based largely on the concentration of a certain enzyme within the pepper. In that context, shishito peppers are on the low end of the spicy scale, measuring between 50 and 200 Scoville heat units. By comparison, jalapeno peppers measure exponentially higher at 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville heat units. (Even that's not the hottest - that honor goes to the cayenne pepper.)
Peppers add a spice of life! With so many delicious peppers coming off farms and into supermarkets, consider adding a few shishito peppers to your shopping cart the next time you are using the Instacart app. Instacart shoppers are ready to do your grocery shopping for you, picking out not just your peppers and other produce, but all the items you need to restock. We will do our best to provide same-day delivery and save you time and money. Many times we can get your items to your home within a window of about 2 hours! Place an order today.