26th July 2008

Pimientos de Padrón

posted in Appetizers, Spanish, Vegetarian |

Hmm, a tapas-style treat of quickly pan-fried peppers, with the odds that 1 in 10 will be incredibly spicy? Sounds like a slam-dunk to me! I saw these guys on YumBlog a few months ago, and thanks to a tip on ChowHound discovered that the Spanish Table sometimes carries Pimientos de Padrón in the summer. A quick walk down there this week confirmed their availability, so I picked some up for a quick Friday-afternoon snack.

Lisa says:

Are these spicy?

Chris says:

According to the write-up/legend/whatever, I’ve read that anywhere from 1 in 10 to 1 in 30 is hot.

Lisa says:

With my luck, I’ll get the hot ones.

Chris says:

With my luck, I won’t!

Lisa says:

Oooh, these are good!

Chris says:

I knew you’d like them… simplicity itself! Peppers, olive oil, salt!

Lisa says:

I heart sal… whoa! Can I get some water?

Chris says:

Did you get a hot one?? Lucky!!

Lisa says:

Actually it was really hot to start, but now it’s not that bad.

Chris says:

Well, hopefully that wasn’t the only one in th… Yikes! I just got one too — that IS hot! I really want more of these. I hear that they actually grow pretty well here; I sense some seeds in our future…

Pimientos de Padrón
Pimientos de Padrón
olive oil
coarse sea salt

Take a pan and pour just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat up to high. When the olive oil starts to sizzle toss the peppers in whole. Lower the heat to medium-high, and shake the pan occasionally so the peppers cook evenly. When the peppers start blistering and browning, they are ready. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to soak up some of the extra oil, then transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Eat ’em whole and wait for a spicy one!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 26th, 2008 at 9:51 am and is filed under Appetizers, Spanish, Vegetarian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 8 responses to “Pimientos de Padrón”

  1. 1
    On July 26th, 2008, Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said:

    The Spanish Table is one of my favorite online sources for all kinds of wonderful foods — you are so lucky to be able to walk there! I’ve never tried this variety of pepper, but it looks wonderful — and of course I’d hope for a hot one!

  2. 2
    On July 26th, 2008, [eatingclub] vancouver || js said:

    Lovely snack. . .I don’t think I’ve seen these peppers around here, but at least I got to eat them vicariously through this entry. 😉

    How would you describe the flavour of these peppers?

  3. 3
    On July 26th, 2008, Chris said:

    Lydia — I know! I wanted more hot ones… 🙂 I think we ended up with around 3 of the 20 or so.
    JS — They were mild, and a bit sweeter than, say, a poblano pepper. They were really tender for only being on the hot pan for a few minutes…

  4. 4
    On July 27th, 2008, Carolyn Jung said:

    I have been addicted to padrons for years, especially since Happy Quail Farms (the first to grow them commercially in the U.S.) is right in my area. I recently discovered Japanese shisito peppers, too. They are similar to padrons, and you cook them the same way. The skin of the peppers is a little tougher, and the flavor is a little milder.

  5. 5
    On July 28th, 2008, Sig said:

    Oh wow! You are a life saver… I am walking down to Spanish Table today…. 🙂 I can still taste those from our Spain trip last December!

  6. 6
    On July 29th, 2008, canarygirl said:

    YUM! I love these suckers! They say that the pointy ended ones are the spiciest…but I still think it’s a crap shoot…some are and some aren’t, but they’re all good! 😀

  7. 7
    On August 2nd, 2008, The Quest for Pimientos de Padron : Live To Eat said:

    […] and sent me an e-mail that The Spanish Table was selling these right here in Seattle! Check out Chris’s post on these as […]

  8. 8
    On August 10th, 2008, We Are Never Full said:

    aren’t these the spanish peppers that they call “roulette” because it’s like you’re playing russian roulette every time you bite into one? some are very spicy, some so so, some not so. also, latienda.com sells these. just got a memo in my email about it – they have a sale b/c their crop was huge this year.

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