Go to any diner, Hawaiian food restaurant, or plate lunch stand in Hawaii,
and along with the ketchup, mustard, shoyu (soy sauce), and Worcestershire sauce you'll also find chili pepper water.
Not "sauce," "water." You'll recognize it by it's pinkish-orange-y hue, and the whole chilis and
sliced garlic suspended in it.Like a distant island cousin of Crystal or Tabasco sauce, chili pepper water is a fiery brine used in Hawaii to add a spicy kick to rice, eggs, spaghetti, fried foods, Bloody Marys—just about anything. In fact, this weekend I made some beef stew and rice for dinner, and it was crying out for a splash or three of chili pepper water to go with it.
