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.

• Ready In: 10 mins
• Yields: 1 batch

Ingredients

• 1  cup cider vinegar (I like Braggâ s Raw Apple Cider Vinegar-you can try other vinegars too)
• 12  long  hot peppers (You can use any combination of jalapeno, arbol, scotch bonnet, habanero, cayenne, etcâ )
• 4 -6  garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
• 12  black peppercorns
• 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt (or other non-iodized)
• 1⁄2  a bay leaf

• Other optional tasty additions

• 3  stems fresh cilantro (or fresh oregano)
• 1 -2  squeezes lime juice
•  toasted cumin seed

Directions

1. Drop the garlic cloves, peppercorns, salt and bay leaf (and any of your optional additions) down into the bottle.
2. 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. 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. 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!