Jalapeño poppers are great. These shishito popper tacos are better.
The American sports bar menu, heavy on crispy, salty and cheese-laden snacks, has not changed much since the 1980s. Chicken wings, a dip or two, nachos and at least one other fried thing – alongside a few beers – have fortified fans through countless wins and losses. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that bars across the United States regularly started offering what is arguably the ideal complement to an emotional game, a happy throuple of crunch, spice and hot cheese: the jalapeño popper.
Essentially a chile relleno, the popper can be prepared in a few ways. Some stuff a whole jalapeño with cheese, batter it, bread it and deep-fry it. Others split the pepper in half, seed it, stuff it and bake it. And still others wrap the stuffed pepper in bacon before baking or frying. The genius of the popper is that the stuffing – typically cream cheese – tames the brash heat of the jalapeño.
But, as I found when testing jalapeño popper tacos in August, even if you love spice, an aggressive jalapeño can overwhelm the senses.
Not so the shishito pepper, the mild-mannered Tom Hanks to Joe Pesci’s spicy jalapeño. Japan’s fingerlike green chile is famously tame; it is said that only 1 out of every 10 or 20 packs any heat. I wondered why it’s sometimes translated as “lion pepper,” and I soon found out: According to several sources, including a booklet produced by a financial institution that supports farmers in Kochi, if you squint at the apex of a shishito, you might see the creased face of a shisha, one of the guardian lion-dog statues that flank entrances and peer out from rooftops throughout the Okinawa prefecture. The chile’s name is a portmanteau of shisha and togarashi, the Japanese word for pepper.
I knew what I had to do: Make a batch of shishito rellenos and put them in tortillas.
First, I tried battering, breading and frying them. Though these were delicious, they were also far too messy. Stuffed, wrapped in bacon and baked, the shishito poppers were also good, though harder to eat and very greasy.
The easiest variation of the popper also turned out to be my favorite: First, I mixed cream cheese with garlic powder and chopped cilantro. I felt as if it needed a little something, so I added finely chopped pickled jalapeños, as a nod to the original. I halved the peppers lengthwise, stuffed them with the cream cheese filling, set them atop small corn tortillas, topped everything with shredded cheese and baked them until the peppers softened, the cream cheese turned molten, and the shredded cheese melted and crisped around the edges.
Ideal for game night – or any night – this popper taco is easy to make and easy to eat. A win-win.
Shishito Popper Tacos
Inspired by jalapeño poppers – a popular bar and game-day snack – these shishito pepper tacos are well-suited for a crowd. Mild shishitos turn silky when they’re stuffed with a savory cream cheese mixture, topped with shredded cheese and baked on top of tortillas. If you can’t find shishitos, you can use Padrón peppers, which are a little bit spicier. If you really like the heat, use jalapeños or serranos.
Especially if serving as part of a party spread, look for 4-inch tortillas. If they’re not available, 6-inch tortillas also work.
12 (4- or 6-inch) corn tortillas
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as vegetable or canola, plus more as needed
¼ cup (2 ounces) plain cream cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped pickled jalapeños (optional)
2 teaspoons fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, finely chopped, plus more for serving (optional)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
12 fresh shishito or Padrón peppers, stemmed, halved lengthwise and seeded
1½ cups (6 ounces) grated Muenster, cheddar or Mexican cheese blend
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with foil, if desired.
Using a pastry brush or your fingers, lightly moisten each tortilla with the water on both sides. Then, lightly brush each tortilla with the oil on both sides, using more, if needed. Arrange the tortillas in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan; some overlap is okay. (If using 6-inch tortillas, you may need to do this in two batches, or use two sheet pans with racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.)
In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese, the pickled jalapeños and cilantro, if using, and the garlic powder. Using a small spoon or your fingers, stuff each shishito half with 2 to 3 teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture.
Place two of the stuffed pepper halves in the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the cheese over each pepper, letting some of it fall on the tortilla as well.
Bake, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through, for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and everything is hot. (If using two sheet pans, you will need to rotate the sheet pans from front to back and top to bottom.) Sprinkle with additional cilantro, if desired, and serve immediately.
Yield: Four servings (makes 12 tacos)
Total time: 20 minutes
Storage: These are best eaten as soon as they are made.
Where to buy: Shishito peppers can be found at well-stocked supermarkets or Asian markets.
Substitutions: Corn tortillas for flour tortillas. If you use flour tortillas, no need to moisten them with water or oil. Instead, lightly grease the sheet pan. Cream cheese for ricotta or fresh goat cheese (chèvre). Pickled jalapeños for pickled onions or cucumbers. Kimchi would be good, too. Fresh cilantro for fresh parsley, minced garlic or thinly sliced scallions. Garlic powder for onion powder or ground cumin.
Variations: You can make these with jalapeños or serranos, but they will be significantly spicier. You can also make them with mini bell peppers, if you want something without any heat. In addition to, or in place of, the pickled jalapeños, you could add 2 tablespoons of bacon bits.