Even most chiliheads don’t know about these small, sweet, East Asian peppers but they make a great appetizer. I like to fry em personally but you can easily toss em in some oil and roast them in the oven. In fact, this is healthier than my way but I’m a fat kid at heart.
The other nice thing about these is that they’re both vegan and gluten-free and are easy to make at the last minute. Heads up, they might be hard to find in some places so you might have to search, but they’re becoming more and more popular so you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding them.
Mise
- An 8-quart pot filled a little less than halfway with vegetable oil OR
- A sheet tray
- A digital thermometer (see notes)
- A slotted spoon
- A mixing Bowl
- Serving platter
Ingredients
- About 4 ounces of peppers per person, it doesn’t sound like a lot but they weigh next to nothing
- Salt, pepper, maybe a bit of cumin.
Method of Preparation
- Either heat the oil or the oven to 350℉
- Either toss the peppers in a little oil and place in the oven on the sheet tray for 10-15 minutes or toss em in the deep fryer for 2-3 minutes.
- They’re ready when the skin starts to blister.
- Season and serve.
Notes
- If you’re going to deep fry at home, spend a few bucks on a digital thermometer. Trust me, you do not want to fuck around and have a grease fire. Make sure that you keep your oil at or below 350℉
- These have a ton of flavor on their own so you really don’t need to go overboard with the seasoning.
- Same thing with paring them with a sauce. You really don’t need to but if you’re going to, I like make a sweet mustard sauce that I drizzle over them. Again, you don’t want to overpower the flavor of the pepper themselves