I know... the picture is a peanut. But I received this gift from a friend, and the most prominent flavour in here was the sichuan peppercorn. If you've enjoyed Szechuan food, you've probably had these little peppercorns that are slightly licoricey in flavour, but completely numbs your mouth if you accidentally eat one. Despite its name, it actually isn't related to pepper, but is rather the outer shell of a tiny fruit.I've seen them used on a fish dish, which was absolutely divine inside a hot oil! Here, on peanuts, they really make your mouth tingle. On top of the sichuan peppercorns are chili peppers which just up the heat.
You can get these little peanuts from T&T
On Sichuan Peppercorns From wikipedia:
Sichuan pepper has a unique aroma and flavour that is not hot or pungent like black or white pepper, or chili peppers. Instead, it has slight lemony overtones and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth (caused by its 3% of hydroxy-alpha-sanshool) that sets the stage for hot spices. According to Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking, second edition, p429 they are not simply pungent; "they produce a strange tingling, buzzing, numbing sensation that is something like the effect of carbonated drinks or of a mild electrical current (touching the terminals of a nine-volt battery to the tongue).
Sichuan pepper (or Szechuan pepper) is the outer pod of the tiny fruit of a number of species in the genus Zanthoxylum (most commonly Z. piperitum, Z. simulans, and Z. schinifolium), widely grown and consumed in Asia as a spice. Despite the name, it is not related to black pepper or to chili peppers. It is widely used in the cuisine of Sichuan, China, from which it takes its name, as well as Tibetan, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Japanese, Konkani, and Toba Batak cuisines, among others.
It is a close relative of the African spice, uzazi.
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