Dry-Fried Shishitos

As much as I love the simplicity of the thing I always tell people to do with Shishitos at the market – just pan fry in a wok or cast iron whole, until blistered, then add salt to taste – I must admit that after growing them for 10 years I’m ready for something new to do with them. This weekend I tried cooking them Sichuan style, modeled after Dry-Fried Green Beans from Fuchsia Dunlop, but bulked up a bit to make a simple Sunday night dinner all on its own, and I’d highly recommend! Serve with plenty of rice.

1. Top three pints of shishitos and slice them in half long ways. Pull out seeds and center membranes from each half roughly (doesn’t have to be perfect).

2. Heat 1.5-2 cups canola or peanut oil in a wok to 350 degrees (it’s ready when it sizzles violently around a test pepper) and deep fry peppers briefly in two or three batches until wrinkled. (You could skip the deep frying if you wanted, but it does make them good). Remove peppers with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. 

3. Pour out most of the oil from the wok, leaving behind about 2 -3 tbsps, and return to high heat. Add ½ lb ground beef or pork (I used beef, but either would be good), breaking up into tiny bits. Splash in about 1 tbsp of Shaoxing wine as it cooks and stir fry until oil has cleared and meat is cooked through. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving behind 3-4 tbsp of oil in the bottom of the wok (if you need to pour some out or add some more to get this amount, do so). 

4. Return the wok to high heat and add: 
   - 3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
   - 2 tbsp chopped ginger
   - Whites of 3-4 scallions, sliced 
   - ½-1 tsp whole sichuan pepper corns (optional)

5. Stir fry until fragrant, then add back in the peppers and meat (if you didn’t pre-fry the peppers above, add them before the meat, cook on medium high heat until they are soft, then add back in the meat).

6. Splash in 1-3 tsp light soy sauce, and ½ tsp dark soy sauce. Add ¼ cup Yibin yacai, if you have it, a Sichuan pickled and chopped mustard stem.

7. Taste for salt and add more soy or salt if needed. Drizzle over 1 tsp sesame oil off heat.