Pequin Peppers

[Doodad]

My friend Marina came by yesterday with pequin peppers out of her mother's garden in Mexico. Mom flew in yesterday.

I have enough to make hot sauce and something else. Any ideas?

[John S.]

My friend Marina came by yesterday with pequin peppers out of her mother's garden in Mexico.  Mom flew in yesterday.

I have enough to make hot sauce and something else.  Any ideas?

 

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That's great! Since they're from a garden I guess they're fresh, not dried? These are a bit hard to find. They look like little candies when fresh and red. Mostly they are used as a source of heat. They don't have a ton of original flavor to them, but many people, myself included, love 'em. They are good to spice up soups and stews, but usually too hot to sprinkle in salads, or as a garnish. In a sauce, they would go well with lime juice (or half lime juice, half vinegar), garlic and a touch of sugar. Have fun!

John S.

[Doodad]

They are very fresh and surprisingly hot. I have never seen them before even in the good grocers.

[lperry]

I grow these and they make the absolute best hot pepper jelly. I use one large bell pepper to about two tablespoons of piquins. -L

[Doodad]

I had not even thought about that. Thanks for the idea lperry!

[John S.]

I grow these and they make the absolute best hot pepper jelly.  I use one large bell pepper to about two tablespoons of piquins.  -L

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Great idea...

[andiesenji]

Chile pequin and chile tepin when fresh, dried or partially dried, can be candied to great effect, as can other chiles.

These are the original "red hots" but one needs to be prudent in the amount consumed.

(Afterburner is a favorite term of some of the folks in a local group of hot foods aficinados.)

Here's an excellent photo essay on candied hot peppers and suggestions of how to use them.

from Fiery Foods

Candied chile pequin in peanut brittle sounds lovely. And because of the heat, it would restrict the intake of the sugary stuff. Sort of a built-in diet plan.

These grow wild in certain areas in New Mexico and one can usually find them because of the numerous birds attracted to the bushes. One of my friends, who lives in Julian, CA, found a wild pequin bush at the edge of one of her pastures several years ago and since then new plants have popped up around her home, probably from seeds deposited by the birds.

The first time I was in Mexico City, back in the early '70s, (for several dog shows) our hotel served a dessert of pineapple, papaya and mango chunks drizzled with agave syrup and lime juice, then dusted with chile pequin powder. At the time I was unfamiliar with all the varieties of chiles and there was also a bit of a language barrier so our waiter (dressed quite formally in a white mess jacket and black trousers complete with cumberbund) brought a tiny dish of the chiles to show us. That was my introduction to chile pequin.

Edited August 20, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[John S.]

Here's an excellent photo essay on candied hot peppers and suggestions of how to use them.

Thanks for posting that link to Dave DeWitt's pages. I never read the one about candying chiles. It's a great article. I'm going to try it - I found one of those old coffee presses on eBay.

More to the subject of pequins in general, there is an article on the same site about chiltepins which are just a smaller, roundish version of pequins. The same applies to them w/respect to the availabiliy and growing characteristics, as well as the heat.

John S.

[andiesenji]

I am fairly sure I have all of Dave DeWitt's books and with a couple of minor exceptions, (probably me being rather picky) they are all great cookbooks.

One of my favorites is the Santa Fe cookbook. I've had it for almost ten years and I don't think there has been a better one published to date that really get the essence of the city.

The recipes are more complex than in most cookbooks about the region. There is nothing generic about this collection. I think this one was written with Nancy Gerlach but am not 100% sure.