These are one of my favorite sources of heat, and single handedly provide the fiery bite of my Five Pillars of Greatness blend. They are tiny dried red peppers with a smoky, short lived, but potent heat. They are small enough that you can often use them whole in soups and sauces which makes them much more convenient than most peppers, which often require de-stemming, de-seeding, baking, peeling, chopping, etc. I've tried just about every pepper out there, and this is one of only a few I keep on hand at all times. If you don't have pequins and have to substitute, I'd use De Arbol, which are available in most stores. You can buy Pequin peppers here on amazon in a the quantity of your choice.