Shishito

Shishito peppers

Shishito pepper (獅子唐辛子, Shishitōgarashi) is a sweet, Japanese variety of the species Capsicum annuum.

Characteristics

The pepper is small and finger-ling sized, slender, and thin-walled. It turns from green to red upon ripening, however it is usually harvested while green. The name refers to the fact that the tip of the chili pepper (唐辛子, tōgarashi) looks like the head of a lion (獅子, shishi), and in Japanese it is often abbreviated as shishitō.

About one out of every ten peppers is spicy. The occurrence of pungent fruit is induced by such factors as illumination, and other stress may predispose the peppers to turn spicy.

There does not seem to be any hard and fast rule to differentiate the hot from mild without breaking it open. Producers often dodge the question; the prefectural agricultural testing center at Kishigawa, Wakayama in 2005 stated that the capsaicin forms more easily in hot and dry conditions in the summer, and even an expert has a difficult time differentiating the hot from the mild growing on the same plant

Therefore, some of the rules bandied about in blog-space etc., may be suspect or only semi-reliable. One supposed rule is that it is spicy if it has fewer seeds, and this can be determined by touch. Some say to try to sniff the pungency. Another says if the tip terminates narrowly then it is hot.

It is said to, like most peppers, have a high concentration of vitamin C.

For cooking, a hole is poked in the pepper beforehand to keep expanding hot air from bursting the pepper. It may be skewered then broiled (grilled), or pan-fried in oil, or stewed in a soy sauce- and dashi-based liquid. It is thin-skinned and will blister and char easily compared with thicker skinned varieties.

See also

• Togarashi, chili pepper in Japan
• Manganji pepper^(ja)
• Fushimi pepper (伏見とうがらし)