Source · farm
Hanyuan Sichuan peppercorn farm
Hanyuan county, Sichuan, CN
Placeholder farm entry — Sichuan pepper (*huajiao*, literally 'flower pepper') is not a true pepper but the dried fruit of the prickly ash tree (*Zanthoxylum*). Hanyuan in western Sichuan is the most prized growing region. The active compound, hydroxy-alpha-sanshool, triggers a 50 Hz vibration sensation on the lips and tongue — the *má* numbing in mala.
The ingredient that defines Sichuan cooking and that has no real analog elsewhere. Black pepper is Piper nigrum; long pepper is Piper longum; Sichuan pepper is neither — it’s a Zanthoxylum berry, a citrus relative, with its own active compound and its own neurological effect. Until the Sichuan pepper revival of the 2000s (the US lifted an import ban on it in 2005) most Western diners had simply never tasted má.
Products
- red Sichuan pepper
- green Sichuan pepper
- huajiao
In season
- Sichuan pepper · Jul – Sep
Used in · 5
- Dan Dan NoodlesA spoonful of chili-soy-vinegar sauce in the bowl, hot noodles tossed on top, crispy pork crumble and peanuts to finish — Sichuan street food named after the bamboo pole the seller carried.
- Hot PotA simmering broth at the table, raw ingredients dipped in by the diner — Chongqing's communal dish, named for its method, not its meat.
- Kung Pao ChickenSichuan stir-fry of cubed chicken, dried chiles, Sichuan pepper, peanuts — mala balanced, dark-vinegar sauced.
- MomoSteamed dumplings filled with spiced minced meat or vegetables, served with a tomato-based dipping chutney — Nepal and Tibet's defining street-food dumpling.
- Taiwanese Beef Noodle SoupSlow-braised beef shank and tendon in a soy-spice-Sichuan-chili broth, over hand-pulled wheat noodles — Taipei's most-defended dish.