Peppers may not come to mind when you think of typical Japanese food. Yet peppers have a long history in Japan. Capsicum peppers arrived in the 16th century. By the Edo Period, two distinctly Japanese varieties were already growing there. These heirloom peppers became important parts of local cooking.
The first variety is the takanotsume chili pepper. This small, fiery pepper grows to only 2 to 5 centimeters. The name literally translates to hawk talons. This is because the curved fruit resembles the claw of a bird of prey. The pepper is very hot and adds strong flavor to dishes.
The second variety is the shishito. Its name means lion head in Japanese. The bumpy surface of the pepper looks like the head of a mythical lion creature. Most shishito peppers are quite mild. But occasionally one turns out to be quite spicy. This surprising trait was never bred out of the variety. In fact, fans of these peppers actually enjoy being caught off guard by an especially piquant shishito now and then.
Sources: japantimes.co.jp
The words in bold are from the article.
| 1. varieties | a. looks like |
| 2. arrived | b. burning |
| 3. fiery | c. types |
| 4. resembles | d. unexpected |
| 5. mythical | e. gentle |
| 6. mild | f. legendary |
| 7. piquant | g. uneven |
| 8. bumpy | h. zesty |
| 9. surprising | i. came |
| 10. brows | j. smoke |
1.c 2.i 3.b 4.a 5.f 6.e 7.h 8.g 9.d 10.j