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Friday, October 7, 2011

DA CHILI PEPPER WATER ADDICTION

In Hawaii one of the most common condiment someone will find is the ever so popular chili pepper water that adds spice and heat to any meal. My dad had his own concoction of the spiced water, he had several jars of it. He emptied out the old guava jelly jars washed it out, and then used it to store his food enhancer.


Everyone has their own recipe, but dad had his tree filled with that fire cracker red, tiny chili peppers that packed a lot of heat, those pups could be used as caveman pepper spray, just aim and squeeze and the juice would take a perp down real fast, considering you hit him in the eyes.


Chili pepper water was added into soups, like pork and cabbage soup, or on to fried fish like the Unicorn fish (kala) after it was grilled over an intense kiawe fire. It was great in saimin, and it was awesome in beef stew. Plain and simple it was not complicated yet excellent source of flavor, way before we ever heard of Tabasco Sauce.


Like I said, everyone's recipe maybe different but the home chef had to be very bad for his or her water to not work.


Chili Pepper Water
2 tbsp. of vegetable oil
8 cloves of crushed garlic
2 oz. of crushed red chili peppers
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf cracked in half
1 tsp. cloves
Salt to taste


An empty glass jar with lid 17 oz. size


In a skillet over medium high heat, add the oil, when hot saute the cloves of garlic until fragrant, then add in the red chili peppers, and cook it over low heat, let the peppers sweat out. Then add in the vinegar, bay leaf, cloves, and cook for about 2 minutes. 


Place the cooked concoction into the jar, and let cool. Add in filtered water to the top of the jar, add in salt to taste. Cover with lid, shake well, and stand it upside down. After a few hours stand it right side up. Let it sit for about a week in a cool storage area. Turn it or shake it occasionally. Some home chefs remove the peppers, but I like to leave it in. And some chefs remove the seeds from the peppers, I leave mine in.
Photo from www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/seed/images/Hawaii%20Chili.jpg


The peppers are small as you can see, but it really does pack a lot of heat. Try it and see, it is pretty intense yet goes well with lots of proteins.

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