# Sichuan peppercorns **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102 "2008-09-25T02:07:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102/21 "2008-09-26T21:11:26Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > The Sichuan hot pot restaurant I went to was very good also. There was the spicy broth loaded with the peppercorns, and also a bland chicken broth or something. The two broths were in a divided pot shaped like the yin yang symbol. They told me that it had something to do with needing to eat the right balance of heating and cooling foods, and that in certain disease states, you need more of one than the other. FYI, Mapo Restaurant in Naperville has some great dishes with Szechuan peppercorns in them. Their Ma La Beef Tendon is great, as is their Dan Dan noodles, both spiked with the good stuff. If you’re ever out in the west suburbs, check it out. Which restaurant did you go to? Was it in Chicago? ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102/22 "2008-09-26T21:54:09Z")
> [@Aestivalis](#): > > FYI, Mapo Restaurant in Naperville has some great dishes with Szechuan peppercorns in them. Their Ma La Beef Tendon is great, as is their Dan Dan noodles, both spiked with the good stuff. If you’re ever out in the west suburbs, check it out. > > Which restaurant did you go to? Was it in Chicago? It was in Beijing. I’ll have to try Mapo or one of the restaurants in Chinatown. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102/23 "2008-09-27T05:34:24Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > It was in Beijing. I’ll have to try Mapo or one of the restaurants in Chinatown. Lao Sze Chuan or Double Li in Chinatown are your best bets. Both are orgasmic. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102/24 "2008-09-27T06:07:56Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > I don’t think they’re used in any other Indian cuisine than that of the Konkan coast. I wonder how they ended up there and not in other parts of India? Maybe it has something to do with Chinese traders coming to Goa back when it was a Portuguese trading post (or the Portuguese bringing the peppercorns back from their travels)? I’m learning about this type of thing now and it’s pretty fascinating…everyone swapping stuff around (that’s probably how chili peppers got from the New World to China and Southeast Asia so amazingly fast). ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102/25 "2008-09-27T09:37:56Z")
> [@FlyingRat](#): > > Maybe it has something to do with Chinese traders coming to Goa back when it was a Portuguese trading post (or the Portuguese bringing the peppercorns back from their travels)? Except Sichuan ppercorns historically are eaten only in Sichuan provice - landlocked in the middle of China. just doesn’t seem to be a natural food or tradegood for the seafaring coastal Chinese. bur coulda happened. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102/26 "2008-09-27T16:00:11Z")
You can buy nice quality ones at Penzeys. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102/27 "2008-10-01T06:29:33Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Except Sichuan ppercorns historically are eaten only in Sichuan provice - landlocked in the middle of China. just doesn’t seem to be a natural food or tradegood for the seafaring coastal Chinese. bur coulda happened. Ah, that’s true! I get confused, because a very closely related species, sansho (another prickly ash) is a commonly used spice in Japan and has been for some time. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102/28 "2008-10-01T06:46:50Z")
Okay, here we go-- the great book _The Golden Peaches of Samarkand_ by Edward H. Schafer, which is about “exotic” items during the Chinese Tang Dynasty, talks extensively about fagara, which is one term for plants of the genus Zanthoxylum. He says that the variety used in Chinese cooking and medicine in antiquity was “fagara of Ch’in”, _Zanthoxylum piperatum_, which is the same thing as Japanese sansho pepper. It’s also mentioned that “fagara of Ch’in” was a well-known seasoning in southern Chinese cuisine, and there are numerous references to it in Chinese sources from all over the place (and multiple time periods). However, this was distinct from a second type, “fagara of Shu”, the kind that was known in Sichuan and was imported from the western regions; it was considered to be of better quality. (Interestingly enough, black pepper was originally classified as “fagara of the Westerners” rather than a separate spice in its own right.) So, spices in the same general category as Sichuan pepper were in use throughout China in antiquity, particularly southern China, and were present in Japan as well. [The Wikipedia article on Sichuan pepper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper) mentions several related species, and states that the teppal of India is a distinct Zanthoxylum species of its own. It sounds like the genus is widespread enough that it was used all over, including Central and South America. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102/29 "2008-10-01T06:51:57Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > I really liked ground Sichuan pepper mixed with salt–put a little pile of the mixture on your plate, then dip bites of roast chicken into it. (One more post, then I’ll quit.) According to the Tang-dynasty sources quoted in my book, you’re in very ancient company by doing this (mixing Sichuan pepper with salt and dipping your chicken and duck into it). 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sichuan-peppercorns/465102.md?page=1)