Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water is a traditional Hawaiian condiment made with Hawaiian chili peppers, rock salt, vinegar and more! It's typically used as a hot sauce and adds a ton of flavor to whatever you toss it on.
Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water
This is one of those recipes you may have never heard of, but once you've tried it, you don't know how you ever lived without it! It's a condiment that's like a hot sauce in style, but somehow also something completely original that can't quite be compared to anything else.
Hawaiian chili pepper water is VERY MUCH like a watered down Pique, which is a Puerto Rican condiment made primarily with vinegar and hot peppers. See my Puerto Rican Hot Sauce - Pique Recipe here. Basically, it's a mixture of water and vinegar that has been infused with chili pepper flavor and heat.
Ingredients in Chili Pepper Water
- Water
- White vinegar
- Hawaiian rock sea salt
- Hawaiian chili peppers
- Garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Soy sauce (or Worcestershire sauce)
How to Make Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water
Boil, then simmer. Add all of the ingredients to a pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Enjoy! Remove from heat, cool completely, then transfer to a bottle.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Let it sit. The longer it sits, the more the peppers and other flavors will infuse the water/vinegar mixture.
- Feel free to change up the flavors. Variations include adding slices of garlic and/or ginger (which you can also smash to release the juices more), as well as a splash of soy sauce and/or Worcestershire sauce for added flavor.
- Can't find any Hawaiian rock salt? No worries. You can use kosher salt or any other sea salt you have on hand.
Storage
You can keep this bottled chili pepper water in the fridge for up to 1 year! Just make sure it's fully cooled to room temperature prior to storing for the best results.
You'll also need to make sure your bottle is sterilized - if it has even a little bit of bacteria in it, your chili pepper water will spoil.
Try More of the Best Condiment Recipes
- Caribbean Style Mango-Habanero Hot Sauce
- Pineapple-Mango Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
- Homemade Caribbean-Style Sweet Chili Sauce
- Homemade Fire Cider
- Pique - Puerto Rican Hot Sauce
Try More of My Hawaiian Recipes
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #ChiliPepperMadness on Instagram so we can take a look. I always love to see all of your spicy inspirations. Thanks! -- Mike H.
Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water - Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces water
- 2 ounces white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Hawaiian rock sea salt you can sub in any sea salt or kosher salt
- Hawaiian chili peppers sliced (add anywhere from 3-20, or as many as you can fit - you CAN sub in other spicy chili peppers)
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 2-3 fresh ginger slices
- Splash of soy sauce and/or Worcestershire sauce if desired
Instructions
- Add the ingredients to a small pan and bring to a quick boil. Reduce the heat immediately and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, cool, then transfer to a sterilized bottle. Use as needed. The longer it sits, the more the peppers and other flavors will infuse the water/vinegar mixture.
Notes
Heat Factor: Medium. You'll get some good zestiness with this recipe!
Nutrition Information
Patty Tachera says
Aloha! I love making hot sauce but have never seen such a list of different hot sauces? How do I save this post? Or can I just go to your website and be able to find all these recipes? Thanks! And going to make some Hawaiian chill pepper water!
Mike Hultquist says
Aloha, Patty! I just got back from Kauai and Maui! You can access any of my hot sauce recipes here anytime: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/hot-sauces/. You can SAVE them by signing up for Grow, by clicking the icon in the right side of the recipe page. It's 3 dots connected by 2 lines. I hope this helps. Enjoy!!
Ri says
what kind of peppers did you use in the photo?
Mike Hultquist says
I made the recipe with these Hawaiian Chilies that I grew that year: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/sweet-mild-chili-peppers/hawaiian-sweet-hot-chili-peppers/
Suzie says
I used thai chilli peppers since the originals dies nit exist invthe mainland snd it came out super!
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent! Thanks, Suzie!!
Robert says
Fantastic recipe!
I enjoyed it the first time making this and now writing as this year’s batch is cooling down before bottling (the local farmer didn’t have a good crop last year). Learning from past mistakes the windows were now open and fans were on high (my enthusiasm the first time I forgot about that-very important).
Today I used two Carolinas and two Scorpions while tripling the recipe.
What a great website!
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Thanks, Robert! Glad you're enjoying the site. Yes, you're doing have a wonderfully spicy condiment here! I love it!
Julia says
Hi Mike! I have a question about this recipe if you don’t mind. My Hawaiian chili pepper bush and lilikoi - passion fruit- vine are about to be loaded. If I put lilikoi in the recipe, would the shelf life change at all? How would I do it so that it would still last a year?
Thank you so much!
Mahalo, Julia
Mike Hultquist says
Hi, Julia. Fruits don't usually last as long as veggies, though everything is in vinegar, which is the preservative. I think it would still last a few months, though you might want to refrigerate it to keep longer with fruit.
Julia Marrack says
Thank you so much!
Shireen Knudsen says
This recipe is the one!
Mike Hultquist says
Boom!
Betty Izquierdo says
Brought back childhood memories because we ate that with bananas, taro’s meats, etc. and loved it
Even my kids when they were little had a taste of it.