# Szechuan pepper **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262 "2010-07-11T00:37:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/1 "2010-07-11T00:37:31Z")
I bought some from “Spice of Life Peppercorns.” It seems awfully mild. Does it need to be roasted or something? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/2 "2010-07-11T01:00:26Z")
I just got some, and not knowing anything I just read up on the internet. 1. The majority internet advice to discard the round black seed and use only the hulls was (in my experience) unnecessary. I did use _more_ hulls than seeds. 2. I lightly toasted them all in a frying pan and then crushed them with a pestle in a mortar (well, okay, with a soy sauce bottle in a small bowl). My peanut-less Kung Pao Shrimp was great, and nobody died, so it must have worked out okay. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/3 "2010-07-11T01:18:17Z")
Holy cow! I mean, thanks, the flavor is vastly improved. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/4 "2010-07-11T02:20:10Z")
Sichuan peppercorns are not supposed to be crazy spicy. That’s what the heaps and heaps of red peppers are for. They are supposed to impart a strange numbing feeling to the dish- made properly, you should feel like your mouth is slobbering, numb, and buzzing. It’s a strange experience. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/5 "2010-07-11T02:22:06Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > They are supposed to impart a strange numbing feeling to the dish- made properly, you should feel like your mouth is slobbering, numb, and buzzing. Yes, that’s what I was looking for. And I presume that “pepper” is a translation error, since they are the fruit of the ash tree. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/6 "2010-07-11T02:26:08Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Sichuan peppercorns are not supposed to be crazy spicy. That’s what the heaps and heaps of red peppers are for. They are supposed to impart a strange numbing feeling to the dish- made properly, you should feel like your mouth is slobbering, numb, and buzzing. It’s a strange experience. Hmmmm . . . I wonder how this stuff would do in chili? (As a supplement to the chili peppers, of course, not as a substitute.) ---
**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:** [July 27, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/7 "2010-07-27T15:48:54Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Sichuan peppercorns are not supposed to be crazy spicy. That’s what the heaps and heaps of red peppers are for. They are supposed to impart a strange numbing feeling to the dish- made properly, you should feel like your mouth is slobbering, numb, and buzzing. It’s a strange experience. Yeah, I wouldn’t call them spicy at all. One of the important flavor principles of Sichuan cuisine is _ma la_, “numb and spicy.” The numb, as you note, comes from the Sichuan peppercorns. The spicy comes from the chili peppers. They complement each other. I was just about to go into my anecdote about my first time eating the peppercorns, only to note that a nearly identical exchange happened almost [two years ago,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=484911) so I’ll point the curious to that thread for more info on this spice. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/8 "2010-07-27T23:58:17Z")
Success! I have achieved numbness! I made Szechuan Chicken again with some unknown skinny red peppers from the local Farmer’s Market. I roasted the Szechuan in a pan until they smoked, ground them to powder and added about a teaspoon to an eight inch skillet with chicken breast meat and various vegetables, garlic and ginger. This is good stuff. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/9 "2010-07-28T00:20:01Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Success! I have achieved numbness! I made Szechuan Chicken again with some unknown skinny red peppers from the local Farmer’s Market. > I roasted the Szechuan in a pan until they smoked, ground them to powder and added about a teaspoon to an eight inch skillet with chicken breast meat and various vegetables, garlic and ginger. > > This is good stuff. > 🙂 Did you grind them with the seeds, or husks only? [Wikipedia sez,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szechuan_pepper) “Only the husks are used; the shiny black seeds are discarded or ignored as they have a very gritty sand-like texture.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/szechuan-pepper/546262/10 "2010-07-28T00:22:45Z")
I ground only the husks. I did get a seed or two and some twigs. Hard to pick out of a hot skillet! The ones I bought online were much more clean than the ones I bought in a local Asian grocery. There was some grit. I will clean them better next time. Man, it was good! I didn’t get forehead sweat like with good barbecue, but it cleared my sinuses! 🙂