Capsicum annuum
Origin: Korea (though likely originally Japan)
Improvement status: Cultivar
Seeds per packet: ~25
Germination tested 12/2025: 93%
Life cycle: Annual
Shishito peppers, as anyone who is even a bit of a foodie knows, have taken the culinary world by storm over the past decade or so. Mild Japanese peppers most often eaten when green — typically "blistered" in hot sesame oil with a few simple flavorings like ginger, garlic, and soy sauce — they have becomes so well-known among American consumers hat they are relatively easy to find even in standard supermarkets. Seeds are readily available to gardeners too. And everyone repeats the same quirky trait about them: that one out of ten fruits are liable to be spicy.
EFN co-founder Nate Kleinman expected the same adage to hold true when he found some "Korean twisted" pepper plants for sale at a Korean market in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania (just west of Philadelphia). The plants ended up producing loads of peppers that look just like the classic Japanese shishitos, but upon tasting them he found out that 100% of the peppers are spicy — and quite spicy, at that. Subsequen research revealed that this seems to be the case in general with these 'Kkwanigochu' peppers from Korea. Nate was a bit disappointed — he loves eating mild shishitos by the handful — but he's also certain that many people who like hot peppers will love growing these productive, pest-resistant, beautiful peppers.
GROWING TIPS: Start indoors 4-8 weeks before last frost. Transplant out once soil has warmed, a few weeks after last frost. Plants should be staked or otherwise supported (like with a Florida weave) or else the weight of all the peppers will bring them down.
