This sauce is perfect for Puerto Rican dishes.
Pique
Puerto Rican vinegar sauce
Servings: 4 cups
Calories: 45kcal
Equipment
- Food processor
- Fine-mesh strainer
Ingredients
- 3 jalapeños
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 20 dried chile de arbol peppers
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 medium shallot 2 tbsp chopped
- 1 large carrot ¼ cup sliced
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 3 serrano chiles
Instructions
- Remove the stems from the jalapeño peppers and cut halfway through the peppers (as in, not all the way through), leaving them whole. Place the 2 cups white vinegar in a large bowl (that can be tightly sealed) and add the scored peppers. Let them soak, covered, for 48 hours. Then discard the peppers.
- Peel the 3 cloves garlic. Chop the shallot until you have about 2 tbsp. Chop the carrot until you have about ¼ cup.
- In a small pot, combine the 20 dried chiles, garlic cloves, onion, and carrot. Add about 2 cups water until the vegetables are just covered. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, until the carrots have softened. Pour the vegetables through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the cooking liquid.
- Transfer the vegetables to a blender, then add the 2 cups vinegar from the jalapeños, the 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 cup of the vegetable cooking liquid, the 2 tbsp salt, and 1 tsp ground pepper. Process until completely smooth and blended. Taste, and add vinegar or more cooking water if needed to reach the desired acidity.
- Pour the pique sauce into bottles or mason jars for storage and add one whole serrano chile to each bottle to soak. The sauce can be used immediately, but the flavor improves after a few days of rest.
Nutrition
Calories: 45kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3505mg | Potassium: 137mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 3166IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 1mg