Both are great tossed with a little olive oil, blistered, and finished with some nice sea salt.
The plants themselves could not be more different. Padrón grows tall and rangy, shishito grows low, wide and with many branches. Both pepper plants are pictured after the harvesting.
Padrón is best harvested before the peppers get much over 2”. Otherwise, they start to get crazy hot. At around two inches, they are still hot, but in a pleasing way. Padrón peppers are extremely fragrant and have a great flavor. The best padrón peppers, ones with the right amount of heat, are more flavorful than the shishito peppers.
The shishito peppers are best harvested before the seeds start to get noticeably tough. The most spicy shishito peppers are at the same level of heat as the pleasantly hot padrón peppers. The shishitos are delicious in there own right and it’s easier to enjoy them fearlessly than the Padrón peppers knowing that the very hottest shishito won’t set your mouth afire unlike a hot padrón pepper.
Both are prolific producers.
Grown in 9b Texas.
by karstopography