Hawai'i Gardens
Chili peppers liven up garden and table
Nioi or chili pepper is a wonderful plant to grow. We all need a little spice in our life, and chili pepper water is an ideal condiment for the classic Hawaiian table or lunch bar — the redder the better.
Yikes!
I remember going to the house-blessing party of the Lee family up in Waimea on the Big Island back in the 1970s. My good friend Erin and her family had built a new kit home, largely with family labor and love. Her many aunties took pride in the gorgeously colored, deep orange-red baby bottles of chili pepper water that they had lovingly made to spice up the family lu'au, and provide attractive table decor.
Some people call it the Hawaiian chili pepper, though it is not native to the Islands. It has been here many years and can be a garden classic.
On O'ahu, we get less chili peppers than we used to, thanks to the marauding vitamin C-craving bulbul birds that will harvest all your chili peppers for you if you don't keep a close watch.
Other than that, chili peppers are pretty easy to grow in your garden. They also are ornamental and attractive. Like most flowering and fruiting plants, the more sun you can grow your chili pepper in, the better. Well-drained, fertile soil is good, but they are a pretty adaptive plant. Grow them from seeds or buy a starter plant. If you can find plants with some fruit, dress them up for a festive hostess gift.
The plants are very festive with their bright red fruit and cheery green leaves. Your favorite foodie will thank you for such a thoughtful and spicy gift!
Warn kids about this plant, though. I will never forget the time I played too closely with my mother's chili pepper plant. She told me not to, but being 11, I forgot. I picked some chili peppers, played around with them and rubbed my eyes. Big mistake! My burning eyes were well-rinsed by my mom and I was OK. Do keep chilis out of the reach of small kids.
Besides chili pepper water and kim chee, you can make other tasty treats with chili peppers. In fact, there are entire recipe books devoted to them. The late May Moir has a classic recipe in her book, "The Garden Watcher."
If you have no time, go up to the gift shop at Lyon Arboretum and buy some chili pepper jelly, produced by the volunteers (but don't buy it all — I have to do my gift shopping, too). Locals like it, of course, and it's a nice present for homesick Hawaiians and far-flung relatives.
Scientists call most chili peppers Capsicum annuum. They are in the Solanaceae family, along with tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, popolo, poha and the rare native Hawaiian coastal plant 'ohelo kai, and they have many other ornamental and strange relatives. Chili peppers are native to tropical America. This small-fruited pepper has been in the Islands since around 1815. Other local names for it are bird pepper, nioi pepa and red pepper.
