Tonight's dinner was advertised on the delivery app as 清香藤椒鸡 (qīng xiāng téng jiāo jī) and promised it would contain 小米椒 (xiǎo mǐ jiāo) a dialect name for 朝天椒 (cháo tiān jiāo), facing heaven chilli peppers, but also used for other cultivars.
藤椒 (téng jiāo) is green Sichuan peppercorns, also referred to as rattan vine peppers. The American Mala Market, importer of Sichuan ingredients, claims that these are only used fresh which is erroneous. I have both fresh and dried here at home. To my amusement, they claimed this in a description for industrially prepared Rattan Pepper Oil. Duh! They do not stock the peppercorns. In fact they are not widely available even in China. They have the oil.
The green peppers contain more of the essential Hydroxy-alpha-sanshool which gives all Sichuan peppers their numbing power than do the more common red variety. Also, the fragrance is stronger so eating them is more intense.
Fresh Green Peppercorns
Dried Green Peppercorns
Anyway, back to my dish. It was generously loaded with sliced, on-the-bone chicken thigh meat, the required rattan peppers and two types of chillies, red and green. Finished with a sprinkling of white sesame seed, Chinese chives and peanuts. Damn but it was good.
¥21.40 / $2.93 USD inc delivery.
