Pequin pepper (pronunciation: pee/puh-KEEN) is a hot chile pepper, also known as "bird pepper", that is commonly used as a spice.

Pequin has a compact habit growing typically 0.3 - 0.6 meters tall, with bright green, ovate leaves and small fruits that rarely exceed 2 cm in length. Like most chiles, fruits start out green, ripening to brilliant red at maturity. Pequin peppers are very hot, often 13-40 times hotter than jalapeño

Jalapeño

The jalapeño is a medium-sized chili pepper that has a warm, burning sensation when eaten. A mature jalapeño fruit is 2–3½ inches long and is commonly picked and consumed while still green, but occasionally it is allowed to fully ripen and turn crimson red...

s on the Scoville scale (100,000-140,000 units). Flavor is described as citrusy, smoky, and nutty.

Other common names (and possible misnomers) of this plant are pinhead pepper, chile petin, chile pequin, piquin, chile del monte and chile mosquito. They may also be confused for the chiltepin, which is a separate cultivar.

Common uses include pickling

Pickling

Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...

, salsa

Salsa (sauce)

Salsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Mexican and Central American cuisine, particularly those used as dips. In British English, the word typically refers to salsa cruda, which is common in Mexican ,...

s and sauce

Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...

s, soup

Soup

Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...

s, and vinegar

Vinegar

Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...

s. The popular Cholula

Cholula hot sauce

Cholula hot sauce is a brand of chili-based hot sauce, manufactured in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico, and licensed by Tequila Cuervo La Rojeña, S.A. de C.V.. The product is packaged with an iconic round wooden cap in various colors...

 brand hot sauce lists piquin peppers and arbol

Chile de árbol

The Chile de árbol is a small, but potent Mexican chili pepper which is also known as bird's beak chile and rat's tail chile. These chilis are about long, and in diameter. Their heat index is between 15,000 and 30,000 Scoville units. The peppers are a bright red color when mature.Chile de árbol...

peppers among its ingredients.

Chile del monte variety is commonly found in northeast Mexico and south Texas along the Rio Grande Basin. This pepper has a unique trait in that it will not turn black with humidity or long periods of rest. Another of its qualities is that it will not produce irritation to the gastric system when consumed in moderation. Its hotness level is lower than other varieties yet it is richer in flavor. This pepper is round and easily confused with other varieties that grow in the area. One of its peculiarities is that the plant is very delicate to handle and if manipulated has a high chance of not surviving. This is a seasonal pepper depending on rainfall. When successfully transplanted and cared for the pepper will morph in the first couple of months to a sweet yet spicy flavor. After three or four life cycles the plant will produce sweet peppers with seldom exceptions of hot examples.