Green Sichuan pepper oil ✦

Huile de poivre de Sichuan vert

What it is

Tengjiao is Zanthoxylum armatum, a different species from the red huajiao of northern Sichuan, and Hongya county near Meishan calls itself its hometown. The oil is drawn from fresh green berries rather than dried ones, which is why it smells of lime leaf and delivers a higher, brighter buzz than any dried pepper can.

In the kitchen

It is a finishing oil: heat destroys both the citrus top note and the sanshool tingle, so pour it at the table. Half a teaspoon over cold chicken, cucumber or noodles, and keep the bottle in the fridge — the aroma fades within two months of opening.

Goes with

Chicken Cucumber Cilantro / Coriander Silken tofu (kinugoshi) Ginger Soy sauce

Same species

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

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