Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water-Traditional Hawaiian Condiment

Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water is a very traditional Hawaiian condiment used similar to hot sauce.

The flavorful hot pepper water is made with Hawaiian sea salt, garlic, vinegar, chili peppers, and water.

It is easy to make and perfect for those who love to eat hot foods!

Years ago, my brother Uriah, moved to Hawaii to work at an animal sanctuary to help with injured birds.

His stay was supposed to be temporary... however one year has since then turned into many years.

Shortly after moving to Hawaii, he met a very sweet girl named Dee that he began dating. They fell in love and were married.

I was lucky enough to attend their wedding in O'hau. I was able to see and experience first hand why everyone falls in love with Hawaii.

I love the culture, the food, the scenery....It is a magical place.

Every year for Christmas, they send my family a Hawaiian care package of delicious Hawaiian treats such as macadamia nuts, chocolates, plum wine, and cashews.

Dee asked if I wanted anything special this year and I told her to send me Hawaiian Hot Sauce.

She explained that Hawaiians really doesn't use hot sauce, instead they use something called "pepper water."

Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water- What Is it?

I was immediately like, "What is Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water?"

Pepper water is a condiment, similar to hot sauce, only with much less vinegar and much more water.

It is spicy, garlicky, and salty. You drizzle it on anything you would a hot sauce from rice, fish, chicken, eggs, stews, vegetables.

It is kind of weird when you first try it because of the water consistency, but if you like garlic and hot food, you become immediately hooked.

Dee sent me a homemade bottle that she made herself. I fell in love with it. I went through that bottle in less than a month. I decided to make a huge batch for me with enough to share with my friends.

I had saved a bunch of little bottles and filled those bottles up. I gave out bottles to my foodie friends that accepted them graciously.

Tips for making Chili Pepper Water

Here are some tips for making Hawaiian Chili Pepper water.

• Hawaiian sea salt is a MUST! It is NOT the same with regular salt.
• In Hawaii, they use Hawaiian chili peppers. I can't source them here, so I substituted Thai chili peppers. They worked great.
• Some Hawaiians use ginger, some don't. It is totally up to you to use the ginger in the recipe. My sister in law does not, so I don't.
• Some recipes put a splash of soy sauce, sriracha, or pineapple juice to change it up. I kept it more traditional. You can add either of those in for a different flavor.
• Last, some recipes use rice vinegar (miran) instead of white vinegar. I made mine with white vinegar, but I am going to try the rice vinegar is good too.

How long will chili pepper last?

If you store the chili pepper in the refrigerator in an air tight container it will last several months.

However, in my home it will only last a couple of weeks at the most because we eat it on everything!

If you like this recipe, check out: Hot Jalapeno Relish, Hot Pepper Jelly, and Jalapeño Chimichurri Sauce.