Chili Pepper Water
It has a bunch of flavor as it sits with the spices making the sauce stronger over time as it patiently waits to be used up on some yummy chicken or steak or even some pork. The consistency is what makes it different without the typical syrupy drippy consistency of most condiment sauces. Chili pepper water has been around for a very long time and is traditional Hawaii condiment. The addition of vinegar—typically distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar — added a sharp, acidic tang favored by the Hawaiians, Portuguese, and Filipinos. It was used over long periods of time, because it would be safe to consume at room temperature in the humid plantation climate, making it a reliable companion for the "kau kau tins" in the fields.
The Health Benefits of Nīoi Pepper, or Capsaicin gives the peppers their heat and also slightly boost your metabolism and promote fat oxidation. The peppers help reduce appetite and are common for their taste as well as for old school weight loss diets. Other benefits include: improve blood flow, lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol levels, and lower risk of dying from heart disease. Hawaiian chilis are loaded with Vitamin C, which promotes wound healing, boosts your immune system, and helps your body absorb iron, they contain carotenoids and other antioxidants as well. In Hawaiian folk medicine, traditional "chili pepper water" is often ingested to help soothe colds, clear sinuses, or aid digestion.
The historical consensus credits Don Francisco de Paula Marín, a Spanish horticulturist and close advisor to King Kamehameha I, with the successful introduction and cultivation of chili peppers in the islands. Marín, known by the Hawaiian phoneticization "Manini," arrived in Hawaii around 1793 or 1794 after deserting a Spanish naval vessel. As a "jack-of-all-trades" who served as the king's interpreter, business advisor, and de facto physician, Marín leveraged his Andalusian horticultural background to experiment with a vast array of foreign species. His journals, which were later rediscovered and documented by historians like Robert Crichton Wyllie, provide an incomplete but vital record of early nineteenth-century agriculture.
Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water Varieties
Chili Pepper Water (aka. Chili Peppah Watah, Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water) is a condiment that goes way back at many pot luck tables and in the years back has a process, different ingredients, and family recipes of different areas around Hawaii. It is familiar and is delicious to many cultures that use it at the table. In the modern Hawaiian culinary context, chili pepper water is rich in the meaning of water, and hot! It helps in flavoring staples like kalua pig (pork slow-roasted in an imu), laulau (pork or fish wrapped in taro leaves), and squid lūʻau are characterized by deep, savory, and often fatty profiles, but adds the heat. So, if a dish already has it in the recipe it is called "Chili Peppah" added or "Nioi" to give the eater a heads up for the heat.
For those who seek even hotter variations there are even hotter choices out there: Gochujang 1,000 – 2,500 Scoville Units (Korean Chili Paste), Sriracha 2,500 – 8,000 Scoville Units (Huy Fong Style), Shichimi Togarashi 30,000 – 50,000 Scoville Units (Japanese Seven-Spice), which is the same heat as Tabasco Pepper (Capsicum frutescens). There are also, Jalapeno peppers at 2,500 to 10,000 Scovilles and the significantly hot Habanero peppers 100,000 to 350,000.
There are similar condiments in other countries which have a similar watery application to them, such as Filipino Sasawan and Okinawan Koregusu. Camps of different groups have improvised with what they had to make their own sorts of Hawaii Chili Pepper Water and made due with what was survival. It was not easy to come across Hawaiian Chili peppers and if they were available it would be sure they would be used for some Chili Pepper Water. Some households still use the old recipes for their cooking while others have replaced it for commercially made Hawaiian Chili Pepper water.
Types of Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water
So far there are five variations that I was able to find, but there is most likely more out there if more people tell a story or two of their own families recipes. However this will make due for now with what I have found so far.
Ehu Chili Pepper Water
The most known type is "Ehu" Chili Pepper Water (or just regular chili pepper water) which literally means 'herbs mixed water' which is the usual Chili Pepper water that is seen on store shelves by "Mitche's Wai Ehu" and "Parks Brand". Most families grew up with this sort of Chili Pepper water and is typically seen in many Hawaiian households in their refridge. It is most peoples Chili Pepper water of choice that they go to.
Hea Chili Pepper Water
I have seen a more cloudy blended garlicky spicy Chili pepper and was told it was "Hea" Chili Pepper or Garlic Chili Pepper Water. It is water which is thrown in a blender to make a consistency that is heavier on the garlic and sometimes adds ginger that is completely ground as its thrown in the bottle along. The vinegar used was white vinegar.
Uli Chili Pepper Water
Making chili pepper water differs from family to family, so it comes to no surprise with the arrival of plantation style uli-chili pepper water "uli" meaning dark clouds. It gets this color from a mixture of dark shoyu, black pepper, crushed garlic, and a piece of burnt garlic that makes the cloudiness of the water like a dark cloud. It is said that it is similar to Sasawan and is thought it could have been inspired by it.
Sweet Chili Pepper Water
Stepping into peoples houses there was a second bottle in some houses on Oahu that was a lighter colored bottle that was right on the side of the classic looking Chili Pepper Water. What was it? "Sweet" chili pepper water which has its roots from "Koregusu Sauce" mixed into the original recipe when ingredients were hard to come by at the end of the plantation days. It uses Apple Cider Vinegar, Cooked Sake, and Mirin.
Shoyu Chili Pepper Water
Noticing that is a little off in color with an accent of brown is from the use of left over pickling liquid from shoyu-pickling. This chili pepper water was from the origins of left overs where left over Chili Pepper water was combined with Shoyu-pickling liquid, Rice Wine Vinegar, and Mirin.
There are similar condiments in other countries which have a similar watery application to them, such as Filipino Sasawan and Okinawan Koregusu. Camps of different groups have improvised with what they had to make their own sorts of Hawaii Chili Pepper Water and made due with what was survival. It was not easy to come across Hawaiian Chili peppers and if they were available it would be sure they would be used for some Chili Pepper Water. Some households still use the old recipes for their cooking while others have replaced it for commercially made Hawaiian Chili Pepper water.
Types of Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water
So far there are five variations that I was able to find, but there is most likely more out there if more people tell a story or two of their own families recipes. However this will make due for now with what I have found so far.
Ehu Chili Pepper Water
The most known type is "Ehu" Chili Pepper Water (or just regular chili pepper water) which literally means 'herbs mixed water' which is the usual Chili Pepper water that is seen on store shelves by "Mitche's Wai Ehu" and "Parks Brand". Most families grew up with this sort of Chili Pepper water and is typically seen in many Hawaiian households in their refridge. It is most peoples Chili Pepper water of choice that they go to.
Hea Chili Pepper Water
I have seen a more cloudy blended garlicky spicy Chili pepper and was told it was "Hea" Chili Pepper or Garlic Chili Pepper Water. It is water which is thrown in a blender to make a consistency that is heavier on the garlic and sometimes adds ginger that is completely ground as its thrown in the bottle along. The vinegar used was white vinegar.
Uli Chili Pepper Water
Making chili pepper water differs from family to family, so it comes to no surprise with the arrival of plantation style uli-chili pepper water "uli" meaning dark clouds. It gets this color from a mixture of dark shoyu, black pepper, crushed garlic, and a piece of burnt garlic that makes the cloudiness of the water like a dark cloud. It is said that it is similar to Sasawan and is thought it could have been inspired by it.
Sweet Chili Pepper Water
Stepping into peoples houses there was a second bottle in some houses on Oahu that was a lighter colored bottle that was right on the side of the classic looking Chili Pepper Water. What was it? "Sweet" chili pepper water which has its roots from "Koregusu Sauce" mixed into the original recipe when ingredients were hard to come by at the end of the plantation days. It uses Apple Cider Vinegar, Cooked Sake, and Mirin.
Shoyu Chili Pepper Water
Noticing that is a little off in color with an accent of brown is from the use of left over pickling liquid from shoyu-pickling. This chili pepper water was from the origins of left overs where left over Chili Pepper water was combined with Shoyu-pickling liquid, Rice Wine Vinegar, and Mirin.
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