Poivrons de Padrón

Dry the peppers well

Rinse the peppers under cold water, then spread them on a clean kitchen towel and dry them completely, patting each one if needed. This matters: any drop of water left on the skin will make the hot oil spit violently, and the peppers will steam instead of blister.

• 500 g Padrón peppers

✅ C'est prêt quand : the peppers are completely dry to the touch, with no shine of water left

Heat the oil until hot

Pour the olive oil into a wide, heavy frying pan and set it over medium-high heat. Let it heat for about 2 minutes, to around 180°C (350°F), until it shimmers and a dropped pepper sizzles the instant it touches the oil. The oil must be properly hot, or the peppers will cook soft and oily instead of blistered.

• 4 tbsp olive oil

✅ C'est prêt quand : the oil shimmers and sizzles loudly on contact with a pepper

Fry in a single layer

Add the peppers to the hot oil in one uncrowded layer, working in two batches if your pan is small. Fry for 3–4 minutes, turning them with tongs every minute, until the skins blister, blacken in patches, and the peppers collapse slightly.

• 500 g Padrón peppers (from step 1)

✅ C'est prêt quand : the skins are blistered and spotted with black patches on most sides

Drain briefly

Lift the peppers out with tongs or a slotted spoon and set them on a plate lined with paper towel for a few seconds, just to shed the excess oil. Don't let them sit too long — they taste best piping hot.

✅ C'est prêt quand : the surface oil has drained off but the peppers are still hot

Salt and serve at once

While the peppers are still hot and glistening, scatter the coarse sea salt over them generously; the salt will cling to the oily skin and stay crunchy. Serve immediately, eating them with your fingers by the stem — and remember, one or two in the batch might surprise you with heat.

• 1 tsp coarse sea salt

✅ C'est prêt quand : the salt is visibly stuck to the hot, oily skins