Ingredients
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1
-
12
-
4 - 6
-
12
-
1/4
-
1/2
-
-
3
-
1 - 2
-
-
-
-
-
-
Directions
Pique (Puerto Rican Style Hot Sauce),I’m told every household in Puerto Rico has a bottle of pique on the table. And every family has their own version. You can use any hot peppers you like, according to your heat tolerance. All measurements are adjustable to your taste. You will need 1 clean, empty glass bottle of about 12-ounce capacity with a tight fitting lid(In Puerto Rico they traditionally use rum bottles). If there is a removable plastic shaker top, that is even better! Remove the shaker top prior to filling and set aside. An empty rice wine vinegar bottle works very well.,I love Pique Sauce. I had not had any since we moved here from San Juan. My dad used to make it all the time. I recently just found Don Ricardo Pique Sauce at my local Bravo Supermarket here in Orlando. Wow, it is the best! It taste like Puerto Rico in a bottle, the freshness. I would recommend it to those who are interested and not wanting to try to make it themselves. Although it was fun watching them make it at home.,While this is a lovely hot sauce recipe, this is NOT Puerto Rican style pique, perhaps a general caribbean hot sauce but not puerto rican . Certainly every family has a slight variation, including my own family, but we puertorriqueos don’t use cider vinegar (that’s a recent trend resulting from all the cider vinegar miracle cure hype) lime juice, bay leaf or cumin when making a traditional pique. A more authentic puerto rican pique is made with white vinegar (which doesn’t alter the flavor but rather blends the flavors of the ingredients), fresh pineapple pieces or pineapple juice if pieces are not available (this adds to the unique flavor of pique puertorriqueo that is not achieved with cider vinegar), aji caballero (a VERY traditional very hot pepper used by boricua’s), recao leaves, cilantro, and oregano (adds to the flavor of cooking puertorriqueo), and olive oil (because we love it!) are added to the remaining ingredients above. Some of us will take a few peppers and smash them, with the seeds, in a mortar and pestle before adding into the bottle with the whole or sliced peppers. And we don’t top off our pique when it begins to run low, we make a fresh batch using the pique previously made (similar concept to sour mash). Why would we cheat ourselves in such a way?!?!
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Steps
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1
Done
|
Drop the Garlic Cloves, Peppercorns, Salt and Bay Leaf (and Any of Your Optional Additions) Down Into the Bottle. |
|
2
Done
|
Remove the Stems from the Hot Peppers. Leave the Seeds and Membranes Intact If You Want Your Pique Spicy! If Necessary, Slice the Peppers Lengthwise Until They Are a Size That Fits Easily Into the Mouth of the Bottle. Insert Peppers (or Peppers Strips) Into the Bottle. |
|
3
Done
|
Use a Funnel to Pour Vinegar Into the Bottle to Cover the Peppers and Spices. If Your Bottle Has a Shaker Top, Snap It Back Into Place, Add the Lid and Set Out on the Counter For Two Days. After Two Days, Store Your Pique in the Refrigerator. |
|
4
Done
|
You Can Top Off With Vinegar When It Starts Getting Low With More Vinegar. When the Peppers Start Losing Their Punch, Use a Chopstick to Remove the Peppers and Start Over! |
