It's often reported in seed magazines and in descriptions about Shishitos that they are very mild peppers (maybe more of a sweet than a hot pepper, really) but that approximately 1 in 10 peppers is a bit of wild card in that it's hot. I've been growing Shishitos for a few years now, and have never eaten a Shishito that's given me more than a mild tingle. Has anyone here actually ever had a Shishito that had a respectable amount of heat before?
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annuum The (Supposed) Shishito Roulette Wheel
- Thread starter NJChilehead
- Start date
I've grown shishito in the past. Your description of "a mild tingle" sounds about right. Perhaps a thing for people with a very low tolerance for spicy food? (I'm suddenly remembered of those diced Tamed™ Jalapeños)
@ahayastani sorry I missed this post-thanks for the info. Yeah I'm wondering if there's really such thing as a hot shishito.
wiicek
eXtreme
I grew some but tasted too few to know if it ever goes above mild. I think tolerance can be a bitch because when I do dinner in my home I am sure it is not spicy. But I am often reminded that I don't know what 'non spicy' mean. Now I have to put my spices on a plate not before.
I think I'm done with growing Shishitos for a little while. They're a nice tasting pepper but too small and not quite spicy enough, plus in the few years that I've grown them, the productivity has been low relative to that of other plants. Next year I'm looking at trying Pimento de Padron as my frying pepper, let's see where that takes us.
wiicek
eXtreme
I have just read about two of them, because I remember I saved some seeds from the Padron pepper and could't remember if they grew. I think they did and with Shishito they were so similar, I forgot they are different.
According to the text I've read, Padron supposedly have 1/10 chance to be spicy and Shishito has 1/100 chance. And wrinkles. Mine didn't have noticeable wrinkles. And didn't have amazing amounts of pods but more than a bell pepper. Bell pepper in my language means not worthy of growing xD
According to the text I've read, Padron supposedly have 1/10 chance to be spicy and Shishito has 1/100 chance. And wrinkles. Mine didn't have noticeable wrinkles. And didn't have amazing amounts of pods but more than a bell pepper. Bell pepper in my language means not worthy of growing xD
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I'll report back on the Padron after next year's grow. If it doesn't do anything for me, I'll just resign to growing long hots as my frying pepper. I'll pick up store bought long hots from time to time but there's no comparison to if grown in a garden. A buddy of mine gave me some long hots from his garden and they were HOT and really good tasting. I love frying in a little olive oil and sea salt, such a versatile accompaniment.
I'll follow up about the Padrons. My annuum list next year is reasonably small (my chinense and pubescens lists are larger). For annuums I have Jeromin (a hot paprika pepper), Jaranda (another paprika pepper but not as hot as Jeromin if I understand correctly), Zapotec Jalapeno, Craig's Grande Jalapeno, and Pimento de Padron.
Very cool! Keep us posted on its progress through the generations!I have a Jalapeño x Shishito cross going (Jalashito?). It has the general shape/size of a Shishito and the heat of a Jalapeno. They're thin-walled, with minor corking. This is only the F1. It will be interesting to see what the F2's look like next season.
I'm a little late to the party.
I've grown shishito for 3 years. Generally they aren't too hot. When picked young they are about like zucchini, no heat. During the heat of summer you will start to get some heat. Most "hot" ones are about like a mild jalapeno, but I have got some that actually felt like chemical fire after a long dry spell in the summer. Hotter than habanero sauce even. If you pick them young they are as mild as can be. When the skin starts getting taut you may find a few spicy ones.
Shishito really is a great pepper for sauteing and eating. Just a bit of olive oil, stir fry until the skin blisters or some char starts. Sprinkle with coarse salt and eat up.
I've also experimented by drying green ones and red ones in a dehydrator. They make really nice popcorn topping when ground up. I've also used the green powder to add to mayo and they make a mean bacon tomato sandwich. The powder is just a really good pepper taste that can even be eaten by the folks who don't like spicy.
I recently did the "teaspoon hot sauce" that I found here on the forums. I used about 3/8 tsp of dried/ground ghost and 4 tsp of dried red shishito and it turned out great. Red shishito have a wonderful vibrant color. It's not deadly hot or anything but I figured I'd take it a bit easy on a first try.
This was my first diy hot sauce and I'm really enjoying it. So much so that I plan on a lot more peppers next year and getting into some ferments and such.
I've grown shishito for 3 years. Generally they aren't too hot. When picked young they are about like zucchini, no heat. During the heat of summer you will start to get some heat. Most "hot" ones are about like a mild jalapeno, but I have got some that actually felt like chemical fire after a long dry spell in the summer. Hotter than habanero sauce even. If you pick them young they are as mild as can be. When the skin starts getting taut you may find a few spicy ones.
Shishito really is a great pepper for sauteing and eating. Just a bit of olive oil, stir fry until the skin blisters or some char starts. Sprinkle with coarse salt and eat up.
I've also experimented by drying green ones and red ones in a dehydrator. They make really nice popcorn topping when ground up. I've also used the green powder to add to mayo and they make a mean bacon tomato sandwich. The powder is just a really good pepper taste that can even be eaten by the folks who don't like spicy.
I recently did the "teaspoon hot sauce" that I found here on the forums. I used about 3/8 tsp of dried/ground ghost and 4 tsp of dried red shishito and it turned out great. Red shishito have a wonderful vibrant color. It's not deadly hot or anything but I figured I'd take it a bit easy on a first try.
This was my first diy hot sauce and I'm really enjoying it. So much so that I plan on a lot more peppers next year and getting into some ferments and such.
Hey @boogieman, I agree with you about the flavor of the shishito, especially when it comes to sauteing, but I've never used them for dehydrating/powders. This year, my wife is planning on getting me a dehydrator for Christmas, and I'm looking forward to trying a few different types for powder, but your popcorn topping idea is really interesting to me. I'm really looking forward to trying that one!
Side note, BMTs are one of my favorites as well-I grew Paul Robeson tomatoes this year and treated my sons to their first BMTs and they loved them.
Any particular pepper types or sauce recipes you have your eye on this year?
I've never done any lacto-fermentation, there are a lot of cool recipes out there for fermented hot sauces, I need to get with the program on that.
Not sure what your experiences are with growing habaneros so far, but Jamaican Hot Chocolate, Caribbean Red Habaneros, and Yellow Scotch Bonnet types are really nice considerations for the habanero types (if you haven't grown those types yet).
No snow here yet (surprisingly) but winter is definitely here. I'm starting some fig cuttings and Rocoto Aji Largo seeds on 1/1, looking forward to the warmth as well.
Not sure what your experiences are with growing habaneros so far, but Jamaican Hot Chocolate, Caribbean Red Habaneros, and Yellow Scotch Bonnet types are really nice considerations for the habanero types (if you haven't grown those types yet).
No snow here yet (surprisingly) but winter is definitely here. I'm starting some fig cuttings and Rocoto Aji Largo seeds on 1/1, looking forward to the warmth as well.