Sichuan pepper

Poivre du Sichuan

What it is

Not a pepper at all but the husk of a citrus-family berry. Its molecule, sanshool, tricks the touch receptors of the lips into feeling a vibration — researchers measured the phantom buzz at around fifty hertz. Paired with chili it creates málà, Sichuan’s “numbing-hot”, a sensation more than a taste.

In the kitchen

Toast the husks dry, discard the gritty black seeds, grind coarsely. Start with a pinch — the tingle builds like applause.

Goes with

Chili pepper Duck Dark chocolate Ginger Soy sauce

Same species

Andaliman Green Sichuan pepper Hana-sanshō (sanshō flower buds) Kinome (sanshō leaf) Sansho pepper Green Sichuan pepper oil

Also used with

Facing-heaven chilli Erjingtiao chilli Bible tripe Duck tongue Suan sun Termite mushroom (jizong)

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